Ford had made a $1bn profit in the third quarter

Ford yesterday offered a rare ray of hope for a car industry in the doldrums by reporting that it had made a $1bn profit in the third quarter.

The carmaker also reported its North American arm returning to profitability after four-and-a-half years and raised its official view on its outlook, saying it was on course to be “solidly profitable” by 2011.

Ford, the only one of the US's “big three” carmakers to avoid bankruptcy this year, was boosted by cost-cutting, increased market share and government-sponsored incentives such as the “cash for clunkers” programme in the US.

Ford's net income in the quarter was $997m or 29 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $161m or 7 cents per share in the same period last year. Analysts had expected on average that the company would post a loss of 13 cents per share.

It reported its first pre-tax operating profit – $1.1bn – since the first quarter of 2008. That was largely driven by the performance of Ford North America, which posted its first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2005, with a pre-tax operating profit of $357m, compared with a loss of $2.6bn a year ago.

Ford's expectation that it would be “solidly profitable” by 2011 upgraded its prior statement that it would “break even or better” by that year. However, Alan Mulally, president and chief executive, said the outlook for next year was much more doubtful. “We're just not sure about the strength of the recovery,” he said.