Ford Motor Co warned Wednesday that the cost of launching new vehicles and a deteriorating Venezuelan economy would dent its profit next year, news that sent the No. 2 U.S. automaker's shares to their biggest one-day percentage drop in more than two years.
The company expects full-year 2014 pre-tax profit to come in at $7 billion to $8 billion, below the $8.5 billion expected for 2013. Most analysts were projecting profits to rise in 2014.
The Ford F-Series pickup truck - the most profitable vehicle in the automaker's lineup - is sold in North America, where it has been the industry's top-seller for more than three decades.
A new version of the F-Series is to debut next fall, and there is concern among some analysts that inventory will be constrained during its launch.
written by Nicolas Yang
