Ford profits halve as rivals book a good quarter

FORD has posted a huge slump in its global third-quarter earnings as demand in its home markets in North America dried up.

The carmaker posted a flat US$1.0 billion ($A1.3b) result for the quarter, down more than 56 percent on the record number it pulled for the same three-month period last year.

The only shining light for the second-largest US car brand’s quarter appears to be the Asia-Pacific region, which pushed its earnings to a record high of US$131m, a US$109m million turnaround from a year ago.

Significantly, Fiat Chrysler has raised its share of the US market by 12.5 percent in the quarter, seemingly mostly at the expense of Ford.

Part of Tesla’s record-breaking result came from selling pollution tax credits to other carmakers.