Ford Motor drives into $2.3 bn Q2 profit

NEW YORK: One of the leading American car makers Ford Motor on Thursday posted a second quarter profit of $2.3 billion even as its competitors are fighting hard to survive the global economic turmoil.

Unlike its peers -- General Motors and Chrysler -- Ford refused to take Federal funds to tide over the crisis, which has resulted in falling demand and sales.

In the year-ago period, the auto maker incurred a loss of $8.7 billion, it said in a statement today.

For the Q2, Ford raked in revenues of $27.2 billion, down $11 billion from the June quarter of 2008.

"The results for the second quarter 2009 include a special items net gain totaling $2.8 billion..., which includes a $3.4 billion gain related to Ford and Ford Credit's recent debt-reduction actions," the company said.

Ford noted that while the business environment remained extremely challenging around the world, the company made significant progress on its transformation plan.

"Our underlying business is growing progressively stronger as we introduce great new products that customers want and value, while continuing to aggressively restructure our business and strengthen our balance sheet," Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said.

In the Asia Pacific region and Africa, the car maker recorded a loss of $25 million in the said quarter compared to a pre-tax profit of $50 million in 2008.