Ford did not disappoint and today announced its biggest annual profit in a decade. According to a Ford release, the company booked $8.3 billion in pre-tax profits for 2010. That is a $3.8 billion increase from a year ago. (Read More…)

After Hyundai delivered a record profit of $4.7 billion yesterday, smaller sibling Kia announced its results today. The Kia’s 2010 net profits rose 55 percent to approximately $2 billion. Some analysts expected more, but the fourth quarter had only a rise of 4.6 percent.

Kia adds another 2,131,531 units to the combined Hyundai/Kia grand total, which now (according to our unofficial TTAC calculations) stands at 5,744,018 units. Where does that leave Ford? (Read More…)

On Friday, Ford will show something it didn’t have for a long time: Money, and lots of it. The Freep thinks that Ford will report a profit for 2010 of about $8 billion excluding onetime charges. That would be the biggest annual profit Ford saw in a decade. (Read More…)

Another American car company rides to the rescue of China’s feared, but so far dismal car exports. Ford is in talks with its Chinese Joint venture partner Changan to export China-made Ford vehicles to emerging markets, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. (Read More…)

After 45 years of work, it’s time for this 1965 F-100’s steel to return to the foundry. Will it be reborn as a shiny new F-150… or as a FAW Tianjin Weizhi? (Read More…)

Here’s a totally practical daily driver I spotted on the south side of Denver a while back. (Read More…)

Ford introduces something totally new and unexpected at NAIAS: Jobs! 7,000 of them. The Freep has it from “a person familiar with the planning.” (Read More…)

Fears of appliance cars finally manifest themselves. More car manufacturers that ever showed their wares at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the fact that there is a Detroit Motor Show (opening Monday to the press) notwithstanding. Ford notably used CES to take the wraps off its 2012 Focus Electric car. (Read More…)

Yes, somehow a Ford Probe— one of the least reliable cars in 24 Hours of LeMons history— has taken the overall win at a 24 Hours of LeMons race. Not only that, the BoomPowSurprise Probe won by a commanding 32-lap margin, meaning the car could have nuked its engine with nearly an hour to go and still won. (Read More…)

Don’t want your kids listen to Howard Stern, the  Playboy Channel, Hip-Hop Nation or Raw Dog Comedy, at least while driving? No problem: Buy a Ford. It comes with a built-in Chinese Firewall that safeguards the harmonious upbringing of our children. At least while they drive. (Read More…)

When Raoul Duke, protagonist of Hunter S. Thompson’s best-known work, goes to cover the story of the ’71 Mint 400 race, he attempts to observe the race from a Ford-owned truck. When I saw this ’72 at a Denver wrecking yard a few days ago, I figured I might be looking at that very same truck! (Read More…)

So who will be the world’s largest automaker this year? Like it or not, this is decided by numbers of units produced, size doesn’t matter. Some time in summer 2011, OICA will publish the official worldwide manufacturer ranking. Let’s try to figure out the top three. Number 3 is easy: (Read More…)

Seoul’s Chosun Ilbo sees Hyundai-Kia taking the number 4 spot in global autos sales this year. The podium positions are already spoken for: Volkswagen will take third, the number one position remains a tight race between Toyota and GM.

The Seoul paper sees Hyundai-Kia “overtake the Renault-Nissan alliance to become the world’s fourth largest carmaker. Hyundai ranked fifth last year, with Toyota on top followed by GM, Volkswagen, and Renault-Nissan.”

The trouble is: It’s not true. Even more troubling Hyundai-Kia will most likely topple Ford. (Read More…)

One of the many reasons for Ford’s surging market share are Americans who refuse to buy a car from a company that has been bailed-out with their tax dollars. In survey after survey after survey, Americans took issue with the bailouts. The backlash was so severe that one of the first measures Joel Ewanick implemented at GM was to get rid of GM. He replaced “General Motors” with “the parent company.” Smart move: You can be against Government Motors. But who dares to be against parenthood?

Ford meanwhile rode high on the perception that they didn’t accept a single dollar. “Ford did not seek a government bailout,” says a very recent Rasmussen Report,  “and 55 percent of Americans say they are more likely to buy a Ford car for that reason.”

Americans (and possibly GM and Chrysler) are the victims of a big lie, says Wall Street insider Eric Fry. And he has the numbers to back it up. (Read More…)

Unless a major disaster happens, (such as a falling sky, or a combined blood, fish, frog, and snake rain) Ford will retake the #2 slot from Toyota this year in  the U.S. The DetN came to this conclusion after studying the year to date market share of both. In his monthly sales call, Ford’s analyst George Pipas said that Ford has increased its domestic sales at nearly twice the market’s growth rate. Ford’s market share stands at 16.4 percent at the moment, up from 15.3 percent last year.  And Toyota? (Read More…)