Is Ford's Profit "Engine" Finally Starting to Sputter?

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) said this past week that it earned $2.2 billion in pre-tax profit in its North America region in the second quarter. That's a solid result, but it's down from a year ago, when Ford earned $2.7 billion.

The story of the drop isn't as simple as you'd think. It's true that Ford's U.S. sales, which drive most of its results in North America, were down 3.3% in the second quarter from the same period last year. It would be easy to conclude that that's the story.

A 7.4% jump in U.S. sales of Ford's F-Series pickups wasn't enough to power a year-over-year profit gain for Ford in North America. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

Source: Fool.com