Ford Reports 2021 Net Income of $17.9B, Provides Full-year Financial Results

Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn today announced it fourth quarter and full-year financial results for 2021, showing a net income of $17.9 billion and the rapid progress of the growth plan to establish the company as a leader in the connected and electric vehicle market.
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2022 Mustang Mach-E Ice White Appearance Package
Ford Motor Co. reported its full-year and fourth quarter financial results, showing a net income of $17.9 billion amongst other solid numbers. // Courtesy of Ford Motor Co.

Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn today announced it fourth quarter and full-year financial results for 2021, showing a net income of $17.9 billion and the rapid progress of the growth plan to establish the company as a leader in the connected and electric vehicle market.

“Financial performance is obviously critical,” says Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford. “We’re also proud that customers see how Ford is taking EVs mainstream and have already ordered or reserved more than 275,000 all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs, F-150 Lightning pickups and E-Transit commercial vehicles — and we’re breaking constraints to deliver every one of them as fast as we can.”

The company’s adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $10 billion at the midpoint of $9.6 and $10.6 billion guidance range after the first quarter reclassification of Rivian gains. Fourth-quarter revenue was $37.7 billion, net income was $12.3 billion, and adjusted EBIT was $2.0 billion, all up from 2020. So, too, was Ford’s performance against each of those measures for all of 2021.

Ford was the number-two seller of electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2021. Farley says that the company will double worldwide EV manufacturing capacity to at least 600,000 by 2023 — and for fully electric vehicles to represent at least 40 percent of its product mix by 2030.

“Our team did a fantastic job working with partners to maximize component availability,” says John Lawler, CFO at Ford. “We allocated those volumes to in-demand new vehicles like the Bronco and Maverick, profitable models like F-Series and Transit, and customer orders.”

Ford worked with LG Energy Solutions to improve battery supply for the Mustang Mach-E, expanding capacity three times over the past 10 months. Benefits from those increases will continue to accrue to more than double originally contracted volumes by 2023.

Meanwhile, Lawler said, full-year benefits from a strong mix and net pricing, as well as lower warranty costs, more than offset the effects of the production losses and higher commodity costs. As a result, automotive EBIT of $7.4 billion and margin of 5.9 percent for 2021 were both significantly higher than in 2020.

During the fourth quarter, Ford reinstated a regular dividend of 10 cents per share. The company’s balance sheet was further strengthened in the quarter by repurchasing and redeeming $7.6 billion in high-cost debt. Around the same time, Ford introduced the North America auto industry’s first fully integrated sustainable financing framework, which spans both the auto business and Ford Credit.

The automaker also is adding to Ford+ capabilities for connectivity and EVs. Since the company last announced quarterly results on Oct. 27, developments have included:

  • The launch of VIIZR, a field-service tool for small-business customers built on the Salesforce platform.
  • An initiative that allows plug-in EV owners in California to opt into carbon-neutral charging at home, a program of the California Air Resource Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
  • A five-year agreement with Stripe, the economic-infrastructure company, to scale Ford’s always-on e-commerce capabilities for customers.
  • Formation of Canopy, a joint venture with ADT, for professional security monitoring and artificial intelligence-based camera technology that strengthens security of customers’ new and existing vehicles of all makes.
  • Creation of Ford Pro Intelligence, a cloud-based platform powering digital services to support commercial customer fleets.