Supply Chain Research

Ford Motor’s 2018 pre-tax profits were 23.8% lower than analysts’ expectations. They included $750 million of increased costs that CFO Robert Shanks blamed on tariff-related expenses. A clear path to offsetting those costs isn’t clear, but at 12.8% of consensus 2019 pre-tax profits they will remain a significant challenge. Price rises is one route to follow, another is to switch sourcing. That may be underway already. Ford’s U.S. seaborne imports from China fell 49.5% year over year in 4Q while its shipments from Mexico rose 0.5%. A bigger challenge may come from the section 232 review o...