The Ford Motor Company said on Friday that it would delay introducing its new pickup, a vehicle critical to its plan to become profitable, and that it would probably lose money for a fourth consecutive year in 2009 because of a precipitous drop in demand for large vehicles. Ford said it would begin selling the highly anticipated 2009 version of the F-150 pickup in late fall, two months later than intended, because dealers needed more time to clear out the current model, which had been deeply discounted. In addition, the company announced its second significant production cut in a month, saying it would build 90,000 fewer pickups and sport utility vehicles in the second half of the year than it had previously planned. It is increasing production of more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers, but over all, Ford plans to build 25 percent fewer vehicles in the third quarter than it did in the same period of 2007. Ford said it expected industry sales of 14.4 million to 14.9 million light vehicles, down from its previous projection of up to 15 million. “As gasoline prices average more than $4 a gallon and consumers worry about the weak U.S. economy, we see June industry-wide auto sales slowing further and demand for large trucks and S.U.V.'s at one of the lowest levels in decades,” Ford's chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said in a statement. “Ford has taken decisive action to respond to this accelerating shift in customer demand away from large trucks and S.U.V.'s to smaller cars and crossovers.” A liquidity crisis could allow Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor, to gain influence at Ford. On Thursday, Kerkorian said he had increased his stake in the company to 6.49 percent and offered to infuse additional capital. Ford took another step back from its long-held goal of returning to profitability by 2009, saying it would have difficulty breaking even, which is the projection that executives made in late May. Ford lost $2.7 billion over all in 2007 and has not earned a full-year profit since 2005. Shares of Ford declined more than 8 percent Friday, closing at $5.81, and have fallen 31 percent since May 1. G.M. shares were down nearly 7 percent, to $13.79.
