Ford Motor Co. posted much better-than-expected results for the latest quarter but projected a full-year loss as it attempts to pull off a restructuring amid the carnage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The automaker said Thursday its operating loss in the second quarter was less than half the US$5-billion deficit it had predicted, due mainly to undiminished demand for its sport utility vehicles and trucks despite springtime factory and showroom closures. Ford’s adjusted loss of 35 cents US a share was considerably better than the US$1.18 per share loss analysts forecast.

The economic crisis caused by the viral outbreak hit Ford two years into an US$11-billion global reorganization that leaves Jim Hackett, the company’s chief executive officer, little room for error amid an extended earnings slump. It also comes as the automaker prepares to roll out three critical new models aimed at reversing its fortunes: the electric Mustang Mach-E, the revived Bronco SUV and a redesigned version of its top-selling F-150 pickup, its most profitable model. The virus shutdown at Ford plants delayed those launches by about two months, the company said.

“Ford is in a prove-it-to-me pattern with investors,” said David Whiston, an analyst with Morningstar Inc. who rates the company the equivalent of a hold. “Institutional investors who follow Ford say the Bronco is great and all, but we just want to see results.”

Ford’s US$1.9 billion loss before interest and taxes compares with crosstown rival General Motors Co.’s second quarter loss of US$536 million. In the third quarter, Ford is projecting an adjusted profit of US$500 million to US$1.5 billion. For the full-year, it expects to post an adjusted loss.

Ford said it ended the second quarter with more than US$39 billion in cash on hand, including US$10 billion in new debt. The automaker said it has repaid almost half of its US$15.4 billion in revolving credit and expects to maintain or exceed a cash balance of US$20 billion for the rest of 2020 “even if global demand declines or there is another major wave of pandemic-related plant closures.”