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Ford's China sales keep falling, down 30% in third quarter

BEIJING — Ford's July-to-September vehicle sales in China fell 30%, as the U.S. automaker continued to lose ground in a prolonged sales decline in its second biggest market. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker delivered 131,060 vehicles in China in the third quarter, Ford said in a statement. Ford's sales in China fell 35.8% in the first quarter and by 21.7% in the second quarter. In the third quarter, sales of the automaker's mass-market Ford brand fell 37.7%, while its luxury division Lincoln saw sales drop by 24.1%. It delivered around 421,000 vehicles in the first nine months of the year, according to Reuters calculations. Ford has been struggling to revive sales in China after its business began slumping in late 2017. Sales sank 37 percent in 2018, after a 6 percent decline in 2017. The automaker plans to launch more than 30 new models in China over the next three years, of which more than a third will be electric vehicles. It also said it would localize management teams by hiring more Chinese staff and aimed to improve relationships with joint venture partners. Ford has launched a series of new models in the third quarter in China, including Focus, Edge, and the electric Territory. In China, Ford makes cars through its joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Jiangling Motors. It has said it would partner with Zotye Automobile Co to sell lower-priced cars, but there seems to have been little progress. In a series of moves, Ford named a new president for its main local venture, Changan Ford, in August and said it would enhance its partnership with Changan through research, production and marketing cooperation in September. Ford is also planning to revamp some of its existing manufacturing facilities with Changan to localize production of its premium brand Lincoln. Changan Ford's sales down by around 33.5% in the third quarter, according to Reuters calculations based on Changan's filings. Ford rival General Motors' July-to-September vehicle sales in China fell 17.5%, to 689,531 vehicles. As GM and Ford China sales extend declines, U.S. car companies' market share of total China passenger vehicle sales fell to 9.5% in the first eight months of this year, from 10.7% in the year-ago period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Over the same period, German carmakers' share has risen to 23.8% from 21.6%, and Japanese automakers' share rose to 21.7% from 18.3%.

Ford posts decade-best $2.1B profit in Q1 2013

As predicted, Ford has reported that its first quarter of 2013 was a resounding success overall, with a pretax profit of $2.1 billion ($0.41 per share), and a net income of $1.6 billion ($0.40 per share). In fact, Ford made a pretax profit of some $2.4 billion in its home North American market, with that total number being pulled down by losses in South America and Europe. That gaudy North American profit is the strongest result by the automaker since 2000.
Ford's companywide profit for Q1 was down $147 million from one year ago, while the net income number marked an increase of $215 million year over year. Overall, this is Ford's 15th-consecutive profitable quarter.
The bad news from the European market was even worst in Q1 2013 than it was last year. Pretax losses of $462 million - on revenue of $6.7 billion - represented a year-over-year change of -$313 million. In South American, the company reported a loss of $218 million, down from a slim profit of $54 million in Q1 2012. The news was better for Ford Asia Pacific Africa, where a $6 million pretax profit in 2013 showed a year-over-year gain of some $101 million when compared to losses in 2012. Scroll down to read Ford's full press release.

Ford finds flex-fuel engine design plays big role in emissions output

How bad is ethanol for your engine? There's been a lot of debate on this issue as the US considers upping the biofuel content in the national gasoline supply from 10 percent (E10) to 15 percent (E15). The ethanol industry and some scientists say higher ethanol blends show no "meaningful differences" in new engines while the oil industry says ethanol creates health risks. Researchers working at the Ford Research and Innovation Center decided to take a closer look at how a wide range of gas-ethanol blends - E0, E10, E20, E30, E40, E55 and E80 - affected the emissions coming out of a flex-fuel 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis. To see the full report, printed in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, requires payment, but there is an abstract and Green Car Congress has some more details. The gist is that, "with increasing ethanol content in the fuel, the tailpipe emissions of ethanol, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, methane, and ammonia increased." At least NOx and NMHC emissions decreased. The researchers say that the effects are due to the fuel and "are expected for all FFVs," but that the way that a manufacturer calibrates the engine will affect NOx, THC, and NMOG emissions. It's this last bit that's important, since the researchers found, "Higher ethanol content in gasoline affects several fundamental fuel properties that can impact emissions. ... These changes can have positive or negative effects that can depend on engine design, hardware, and control strategy. In addition to direct emissions impacts, higher ethanol content fuel can also provide more efficient combustion and overall engine operation under part-load conditions and under knock-limited higher-load conditions." So, as we head towards more ethanol in our fuel supply (maybe), manufacturers are going to need to learn how to burn it most efficiently.