Auto giant Ford Motor Company today said it has reported a 69 per cent jump in third quarter net income to USD 1.68 billion driven growth in North American operations. The entity had a net income of USD 997 million in July- September quarter of 2009,Ford said in a statement. Ford attributed its robust quarter numbers to better products,momentum in North America and continued success at Ford Credit amid still-challenging business conditions. The auto firm has reported a revenue of USD 29 billion in the third quarter of 2010,a decline of USD 1.3 billion from the year-earlier. The company said excluding Volvo which it sold in August revenue grew USD 1.7 billion. This was another strong quarter and we continue to gain momentum with our One Ford plan. Delivering world class products and aggressively restructuring our business has enabled us to profitably grow even at low industry volumes in key regions, said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. In terms of geographical locations,Ford has posted a impressive numbers in all the regions-North America,Europe and Asia Pacific Africa accept South America. The company said it expect to eliminate its net debt position in its automotive business by year-end. During the quarter,the auto maker had repaid USD 2 billion of debt and would repay the remaining USD 3.6 billion owed to a retiree healthcare trust for the United Auto Workers union by the month-end. Ford North America registered a third quarter pre-tax operating profit of USD 1.6 billion,a USD 1.3 billion improvement from the year-ago period. The companys revenue was USD 16.2 billion,up from USD 13.4 billion a year-ago. Besides,the company has reported a pre-tax operating profit of USD 30 million from Asia Pacific and Africa operations,compared with a profit of USD 22 million a year ago. Third quarter revenue was USD 1.8 billion,up from USD 1.5 billion a year-ago. Ford said it has, posted a 28 per cent sales increase in Asia Pacific Africa,including a 14 per cent increase in China led by Fiesta demand and a 190 per cent increase in India led by sales of the new Ford Figo. During the quarter,the company had announced plan to launch eight new vehicles in India by mid-decade and export Ford Figo from India to 50 markets. Ford said it will continue to post good numbers with increases in both cash flow and profitability in 2011. The key drivers for improvement in 2011 will be our growing product strength,a gradually strengthening economy and an unrelenting focus on improving the competitiveness of all our operations, Mulally added.
