Jul 24th, 2008 by Liz Opsitnik
Ford said Thursday it lost $8.67 billion in the second quarter and will retool two more North American truck and SUV plants to build small, fuel-efficient vehicles, reports the AP and Fox News.
The company said that $8.03 billion of the loss was write-offs due to a decline in value of North American assets and Ford Motor Credit Co.’s lease portfolio. Second-quarter revenue was $38.6 billion, down $5.6 billion from the same period a year ago.
Ford also announced that it will bring six European small car models to North America by the end of 2012 as it deals with the market shift to cars and high gas prices. Three of these small cars will be the Transit Connect small van, the European Focus and the subcompact Fiesta. The other three models will be announced later.
The company said it will retool the Michigan Truck plant in suburban Detroit and the Louisville Assembly Plant, shifting its products from large SUVs to make global vehicles off the European Focus platform by 2010.
Ford has done well overseas though, posting a $582 million profit in Europe and $388 million in South America.
“The second half will continue to be challenging, but we have absolutely the right plan to respond to the changing business environment and begin to grow again for the long term,” President and CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement.
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