Ford Fortunes Fade While Crosstown Rival GM Posts Record Profit
- GM rules in jumbo SUVs as consumers reject Ford’s fuel sippers
- Models like Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon yield big earnings
Ford CEO Fields: Staying Focused on Products, Mobility
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Ford Motor Co.’s profits are slumping while General Motors Co. is posting record earnings. To understand why, look no further than big sport utility vehicles that have come roaring back as U.S. gasoline prices plunged.
In the battle of the behemoths, GM is dominating. It controls 49 percent of the U.S. market for large and luxury SUVs with models like the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, while Ford has just 13 percent of that lucrative business, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas. In a product category where profit margins swell to 20 percent or more, that can give GM an annual $2 billion pretax profit edge over Ford, he said.