Ford Motor Company announced Thursday on its website that its pre-tax profit hit a record high of 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 426 million dollars year on year and the 17th consecutive quarter of profitability.

Net income of the U.S. second largest auto giant reached 1.3 billion dollars, down 359 million dollars compared with the same period of last year.

Ford also reported strong performance in the third quarter outside North America. It has substantially reduced losses in Europe, set a record profit in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa, and posted a 150-million-dollar pre-tax profit increase in South America.

Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO, attributed the company's record results to "the strength of One Ford Plan around the world. "

In the first nine months of this year, the Dearborn-based automaker reaped a pre-tax profit of 7.3 billion dollars, an increase of one billion dollars year on year, and its net income reached 4.1 billion dollars.