DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. lost $116 million in the fourth quarter, its first loss in two years, and its profit for all of 2018 fell by more than half as lower margins in North America combined with losses everywhere else in the world.
The automaker said tariffs and higher commodity costs added up to a $1.8 billion hit during the year, and it took an $877 million hit to pensions and other benefit funds when the financial markets tumbled late in the year.
"It's not a year that we were happy with," CFO Bob Shanks said.
But he argued that the company "made a lot of progress underneath the surface in North America" and has begun working to fix the problems in Asia and Europe.
Most of Ford's financial metrics for the quarter were negative, save for a 1.2 percent increase in revenue.
On the year, revenue rose 2.2 percent, but net income fell 52 percent to $3.7 billion.
Ford earned $7.6 billion in North America in 2018, 6 percent less than the prior year. That will result in an average profit-sharing payout to most UAW members in March of $7,600, which is $100 more than last year because of accounting adjustments made to last year's results.
The company lost $2.2 billion in the rest of the world, with the Asia Pacific region accounting for half of that amount. Ford lost $678 million in South America and $388 million in Europe.
Ford Credit had its best result in eight years, with a profit of $2.6 billion, a 14 percent increase.
