Remember those dark times in Detroit? Well, we have come a long way since then as Ford Motor Company reported today a record third quarter net income of $1.7 billion. This is a $690 million improvement over the third quarter of 2009, fueled mostly by good momentum in the North American market.

Ford has been in the green for five consecutive quarters now, with a pre-tax operating profit of $2.1 billion – an improvement of $1.1 billion from a year ago.

Revenue for the last three months hit $29 billion, down by $1.3 billion compared to 2009 , but, nevertheless, Ford seems to be on the right track.

Ford North America fared particularly well, achieving a pre-tax operating profit of $1.6 billion that is a massive $1.3 billion improvement over last year. This means that the Blue Oval could gain full-year market share in the U.S. for the second straight year.

Ford also announced that it's diligently working on reducing its debts. The plan includes further paying down the firm's revolving credit line as well as making a prepayment on the remaining debt owed to VEBA and through conversion offers on two convertible debt securities.

"This was another strong quarter and we continue to gain momentum with our One Ford plan" said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. "Delivering world class products and aggressively restructuring our business has enabled us to profitably grow even at low industry volumes in key regions".

By Csaba Daradics