The Ford Motor Company reported a profit of $2.7 billion for 2009, a year Ford's CEO Alan Mulally calls "pivotal" for the company. The last full-year profit for Ford was in 2005. Mulally predicts that 2010 will also be a profitable year. Fourth quarter profit was $868 million (25 cents per share) on revenue of $35.4 billion, making it the best quarter of the year, with a 33% jump in December sales. It has to be noted that December sales across the board benefitted from extraordinary offers from dealers (up to 50% off for some GM products) and a flood of bargain-hunting shoppers. Ford's revenue for the year was $118.3 billion. In 2008, the company lost $14.8 billion.

Mulally attributes the company's return to profitability to "great products, building a stronger business and contributing to a better world." More specifically, the company cut costs, reduced debt and enjoyed lease-related profit from its financial services business.

Ford was the only one of the "big three" not to receive government loans or file for bankruptcy at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

Shares in Ford have shot from $1.50 last February to more than $12 this month. In early trading today shares were up 2.5 percent.

Though sustained profitability will depend to a great extent on the robustness of the economic recovery as a whole, Ford could benefit, especially in North America where sales were strongest in 2009, from the problems besetting rival Toyota. The recall of more than 4 million Toyota cars and the suspension of production of eight top brands because of accelerator pedal problems could open up opportunities for Ford, and other car makers, to exploit, at least in the short term. Ford's market share in North America reached 15% for 2009, up a point over 2008 and the first increase since 1995 when its share was close to 25%.

In a move that highlights the interconnectedness of the auto assembly industry today, Ford announced that it is suspending production of some models in China because they may have the same accelerator pedal problems as the Toyotas. The Transit Classic model, made in China, has the same supplier as Toyota. Fewer than 2.000 vehicles have been produced with the same pedal.

The full-year profit will mean a profit-sharing payment of about $450 to each of 43,000 UAW members in the US, the first since 2004.

Ford is investing $400 million to manufacture the next version of the Ford Explorer SUV at its Chicago plant. The new line will add about 1,200 jobs at the plant. 

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