For Ford, 2025 was an annus horribilis, as the late Queen Elizabeth would have famously described it. The automaker ended 2025 with an $11.1 billion fourth-quarter loss, contributing to an $8.2 billion overall loss for the year. These are kinds of numbers not seen since the Great Recession in 2008. But this time the culprit was a failed bet on consumers’ appetite for EVs, forcing large write-downs. Adding to the financial pain were tariff issues, supplier fires, and other assorted travails.
In December, Ford warned it would take $19.5 billion in charges related to strategy changes and an overhaul of its EV business. Large projects like a three-row SUV, electric commercial van, and a next-generation electric pickup truck have all been canceled. EV investment is now centered on affordable models from a new universal architecture. About $15.5 billion of the write-down came in the fourth quarter, the rest is still to come. And the Model e side of the business continues to bleed money.
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The $2 billion in losses due to tariffs are almost double what was originally forecast, in part due to a change that kept Ford from cashing in on some offsets.
Adjusted earnings fell 34 percent to $6.8 billion. North American earnings were down, which means smaller profit-sharing checks for union workers. They will get about $6,780, compared to $10,200 last year.
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Some Good News, Too
The good news: Ford had record revenue of $187.3 billion for the year, inching up 1 percent. Sales and market share grew in 2025, and the company expects 2026 to be even stronger with some of its largest headwinds behind it. Tariffs and government policies in general are expected to stabilize. Ford Pro is a profit driver, with double-digit profit margins. Ford Energy, the new business selling energy-storage systems, is expected to begin generating revenue. Ford Blue is in the black as it changes its mix to meet customer demand. That means changes like building more hybrid Ford Mavericks.
Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company is being quietly modernized, with new vehicles and more tech coming.
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Ford executives have told dealers they will have five models—new nameplates—priced for less than $40,000 added to the portfolio by the end of the decade, starting with the midsize electric pickup truck due next year as part of the new family of affordable EVs. They will have Level 3 driver-assist systems with most of the work done in-house to keep cost down. The new models will help dealers who want more entry-level models in the wake of the discontinuation of the Ford Escape last December. The Edge is also long gone. Ford has also said it will make more lower-trim versions of its other vehicles.
In 2025, Ford suffered a $2 billion loss due to the two fires at aluminum supplier Novelis that cost the company the production of about 100,000 vehicles. The company hopes to make up a big chunk of the lost production and Novelis expects to have its mill up and running sometime between May and September. Ford says it has contingency plans to cover the timeline. Losses from the Novelis disruption should only be about $1 billion in 2026.