Ford's woes overseas get worse

The US automaker reported on Wednesday it made $7.6 billion in North America in 2018, a touch below what it made last year, although it did report a strong fourth quarter. Ford Credit, the company's financial services arm, made $2.6 billion for the year.

But it lost money in every other region of the world. And in most regions, the results were worse than a year earlier. That led to a sharp drop in company-wide net income.

Europe, which posted a profit last year, swung to a $398 million loss there for the year. The Asia Pacific region suffered a $1.1 billion loss after a profitable 2017. South America trimmed losses but still ended up with a $678 million hit for the year. Only the Africa and Middle East was near to break-even with only a $7 million loss.

The results were not a surprise. Ford had said what its company-wide full-year results would be last week. But the flood of red ink drove home the need for the company to move forward with hits plans to restructure its business, a shake-up that it said will cost $11 billion in the coming years.

"While 2018 was a challenging year, we put in place key building blocks to build a more resilient and competitive business model that can thrive no matter the economic environment," said Ford CFO Bob Shanks. "We are confident in our plan to transform our business."

The details of that restructuring have yet to be released, although Ford has announced plans to close plants and cut jobs in Europe. Ford did announce an alliance with Volkswagen earlier this month. The move will let the two build some trucks and vans together and could lead the to develop the next generation of electric and self-driving vehicles.