Ford today announced that its profit fell 21 per cent in the second quarter.
Net income at Ford slid to $946 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with $1.2 billion, or 57 cents a share in the year-ago period.
Excluding special items, income was $936 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with $1.2 billion, or 62 cents a share in the year-ago period.
The results came in ahead of the consensus of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, who were expecting 33 cents a share in income and $36.96 billion in revenue.
Ford's total sales grew to $44.59 billion from $42.87 billion.
But the company's North America division, facing higher costs and lower volume, reported a loss of $907 million. In the year-ago period the division reported a profit of $454 million.
Ford held to its $1 to $1.25 a share earnings outlook for 2005, not including the 21 cents to 30 cents a share charge it will take for restructuring its parts supplier Visteon Corp.