Ford CEO tells employees to focus on doubling profit

Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett told employees the automaker would not accept last year’s “mediocre” results and said the company was aiming to nearly double its annual operating profit, Reuters reads.

Ford is restructuring its global operations, including recent plans to make cuts in Europe. It also has announced an alliance in commercial vehicles with Germany’s Volkswagen, with plans to jointly develop electric and self-driving vehicles, in moves meant to save billions of dollars.

Ford announced its fourth-quarter results, reporting a 2018 operating profit of 7 billion USD with a profit margin of 4.4 percent, down from 6.1 percent in 2017. Ford said last week that its target for operating margin was more than 8 percent.

“2018 was mediocre by any standard,” Hackett said. “Yes, we made 7 billion USD last year. But think of it this way: this represents a 4.4 percent operating margin, about half what we believe is an appropriate margin. So we are aiming for much closer to 14 billion USD.”

Ford did not provide a specific financial forecast for 2019. It simply said it had the potential to improve earnings and revenue.