Ford Motor Company (F)’s Latest Turnaround Takes Hold in Europe

And those products are succeeding. Sales of the Kuga – Europe’s version of the new Escape – were up 7% in August, and the new B-Max (shown above) has become the best-seller in its segment, Ford said.

But will things get worse before they get better?

Ford Europe chief Stephen Odell said on Monday that he thinks Europe’s new-car market has hit “bottom” – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things are looking up. “There are no major signs of uptick but it does feel like we’re running along the bottom,” Odell told reporters at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

That’s a view I’ve heard from other experts – it’s hard to see how Europe could get much worse, but it’s not likely to get a whole lot better any time soon. That said, Odell thinks Ford Europe will be profitable by the end of 2015.

Given Ford’s losses in Europe last year, and losses that could total $1.8 billion by the end of 2013, even breaking even in Europe would be a big boost to the company’s overall bottom line. The good news for Ford shareholders is that even if Europe’s new-car market continues its slump, Ford appears to be on track to hit that goal within a couple of years.

The article Ford’s Latest Turnaround Takes Hold in Europe originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by John Rosevear.

Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Ford. You can connect with him on Twitter at @jrosevear. The Motley Fool recommends Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford.

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