DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – Ford’s new aluminum-sided F-150 will be a lot lighter and more efficient when it goes on sale later this year. But for now it’s a serious drag on profits.
Ford’s net income dropped 34 percent to $835 million in the third quarter, largely due to the cost of launching the new pickup.
The company closed its Dearborn truck plant for five weeks during the quarter, contributing to $700 million in negative cash flow. Ford also cut back on truck sales in order to preserve inventories while it readies the new aluminum-sided truck.
That hurt pretax profits in North America, which fell 39 percent to $1.4 billion. Sales in the region dropped 8 percent.
Ford lost money in Europe, South America and in its Middle East and Africa division. Sales were up in Asia, but investment in new plants and products there caused pretax profits to drop 62 percent to $44 million.