Ford cut its full-year profit forecast Thursday following a fire-related outage at a major supplier as the automaker reported a jump in quarterly profits.
The third-quarter results easily topped analyst estimates, reflecting the lift from higher auto sales. Ford also signalled a significantly improved outlook on the full-year hit from President Donald Trump鈥檚 trade tariffs following recent White House announcements.
Profits were $2.4 billion, more than double the year-ago level. Revenues rose 9.4 per cent to $50.5 billion.
Having contended with months of tariff unpredictability that clouded its outlook, the company is now in crisis-management mode following a September fire at a Novelis aluminum plant in upstate New York that impacted supplies for a number of top-selling vehicles.
Ford projected its full-year earnings before taxes and interest of $6 billion-$6.5 billion, down from the prior range of $6.5 billion-$7.5 billion.
The automaker announced a plan to recover at least $1 billion in the Novelis-related hit in 2026 from boosting production of the top-selling F-150 pickup truck and its F-series Super Duty pickup for a total of 50,000 additional vehicles in 2026.
The plan entails adding about 1,000 jobs at major factories in Michigan and Kentucky and shifting employees now assembling the Ford Lightning electric F-150 truck to other F-150 models.
鈥楾he people who keep our country running depend on America鈥檚 most popular vehicle 鈥� F-Series trucks 鈥� and we are mobilizing our team to meet that demand,鈥� said Ford chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra in a press release.
鈥業 do not expect a retail impact so consumers should not be impacted,鈥� Galhotra said in a conference call with reporters.
The moves come after a 聽September 16 fire at the Novelis aluminum plant in Oswego, New York.
The 鈥榤assive three-alarm fire鈥� caused 鈥榚xtensive damage to the plant鈥檚 hot mill area, where aluminium sheets for vehicles are produced, and led to a partial roof collapse,鈥� said an incident report posted by the Minoa Fire Department.
There were no injuries from the fire, the cause of which remains under investigation, the fire department summary said.
The cold rolling section of the plant is still operational. Ford officials said they expect the hot mill to be operational in late November or early December.
Prior to the Novelis incident, Ford was on track to raise its full-year forecast, said Chief Financial Officer Sherry House.
Ford now expects the full-year hit from Trump鈥檚 tariffs to be $1 billion, down from the $2 billion figure estimated in July.
The biggest factor in the improved tariff outlook was a White House announcement last week that lets the company offset some of the costs of tariffs on imported parts through 2030, CFO House said.
