The US auto giant, which shuttered some factories due to the pandemic and saw overall car sales fall sharply, reported an operational loss of US$1.9 billion in the second quarter, much lower than the US$5 billion loss projected in April.

Even though factories were idled for six weeks, Ford said it picked up retail market share in North America for its top-selling F-150 pickup trucks as well as a strong performance from other large vehicles.

Ford reported net profits of US$148 million boosted by a one-time gain of US$3.5 billion following Volkswagen’s investment in an autonomous vehicle joint venture, called Argo AI.

Revenues fell about 50% to US$19.4 billion.

Ford also amassed almost US$40 billion in liquidity following a large bond offering in the second quarter. That should allow the car company to maintain US$20 billion in cash “even if global demand declines or there is another major wave of pandemic-related closures,” the company said.

Shares in the automaker rose 2.2% to US$6.90 in after-hours trading.