Ford Motor Co. lost $2 billion in 2022 despite pulling in $22 billion more in revenue for the year and CEO Jim Farley’s not happy about it.
“We generated record cash flow, (and) we left about $2 billion of profit on the table due to cost, and especially supply chain issues,” he said during the company’s earnings call Thursday evening. “This is simple facts. And to say I’m frustrated is an understatement because the year could have been so much more for us at Ford.”
The company reported its Q4 and full-year earnings yesterday. For the final stanza of 2022, Ford reported revenue of $44 billion, up 17% from the $37.7 billion for the same period in 2021. The company also reported net income of $1.3 billion, which was down sharply from the $12.3 billion reported at the end of the previous year.
However, for the full year, Ford brought in $158.1 billion in revenue. That’s a 16% increase compared with 2021’s full year revenue number of $136.3 billion. As noted, the company lost $2 billion for the full year unlike the prior year where it reported net income of $17.9 billion.
Ford also reported its January new vehicle sales in the U.S. Thursday, showing an 2% increase compared to the year-ago period. While not necessarily huge in number, the company sold 5,247 EVs last month, a 104.1% increase compared to last January. The Mustang Mach-E sales rose 10.8 percent.
Farley noted the company was the second-largest seller of battery-electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2022 — something he didn’t expect. The company also saw many of its tried-and-true favorites keep in truckin’. F-Series sales were up 8.8% for the month, including more than 2,200 F-150 Lightnings.
Bronco Sport was up 51.7% while its larger sibling, the Bronco, was also up 25.5%, but the company’s other pickups, Ranger and Maverick were down 45.2% and 3.7%, respectively. The Bronco Sport’s cousin, the Escape, was also down significantly: 40 percent.
What happened?
The loss was blamed on several things, including material costs and poor capital allocation. Farley and CFO John Lawler noted the company was forced to take extraordinary — and expensive — measures to keep assembly lines going, such as flying in certain components, which dramatically increases costs.
Lawler noted it just one area where the company needed to improve. “And this speaks to the significant operating deficits we have in product development, manufacturing and procurement,” he said.
