The Ford Motor Company said today that it lost money in the third quarter as deep discounts and falling sales of profitable sports utility vehicles almost tripled the loss at the automaker's North American division.

The quarter marks a turning point for the company, because until now it had been profitable, unlike its rival General Motors. It was Ford's first quarterly loss in two years. But like its rival's, Ford's domestic operations have struggled mightily because of competition from foreign automakers and its high labor and health care costs.

The company will announce a restructuring plan, including "significant plant closings," in January, William Clay Ford Jr., the company's chairman and chief executive, said today in a conference call with analysts and reporters. He had previously said the company would disclose those plans when it announced its third-quarter results, but today he said that he wanted to give two executives who were recently appointed to the task time to develop recommendations.

"This is certainly not business as usual," he said in the conference call. "We need a dramatically different business structure and we need innovation to drive everything we do."

Mr. Ford said the company was also in negotiations with the United Auto Workers to make a deal similar to the one the union reached this week with G.M. on reducing health care expenses for retirees and workers.

The U.A.W. was expected to provide details of that deal, which G.M. says will cut $1 billion in annual health benefits, during a news conference today.

Also today, Mr. Ford began to appear in a series of television and print advertisements stressing Ford safety and design as well as the company's hybrid vehicles. It is Ford's first major national corporate branding campaign since 2001.

Though Mr. Ford conceded at a recent news conference that he might have taken the helm of the company his family founded at a less than ideal time in his life, he said today that he was fully committed to the company as it tries to transform itself once again.

"I will be in charge of this effort without any reluctance whatsoever," Mr. Ford said in the conference call this morning.

Ford lost $284 million, or 15 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $266 million, or 15 cents in the quarter last year.

Revenue rose 4.4 percent, to $40.9 billion in the latest quarter, from $39.1 billion a year earlier.

Losses at the North American division, the company's biggest, jumped to $1.2 billion from $481 million a year ago. For much of the summer, Ford matched G.M.'s aggressive employee discount program in the United States, slashing prices by thousands of dollars on some of its most profitable trucks and sports utility vehicles.

The company said the summer incentive program, which was responsible for rising sales in July and August, will reduce sales in the current, fourth, quarter of the year. For the full year, the company expects to sell slightly more vehicles than last year.

"It's very reasonable to assume that we are going to have a payback coming," Don Leclair, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in the conference call.

For the full year, Ford said its earnings would lean toward the low-end of a previously issued forecast of $1 to $1.25 a share.

Shares of Ford, which have fallen more than 42 percent so far this year, were down 2 cents, to $8.45 this afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sales of sport utility vehicles and trucks have also fallen as gasoline prices have risen, and for a time last month spiked past $3 a gallon.

"The future arrived faster than we expected because of this year's sharp spike in fuel prices," said Mr. Ford, who noted that the company has already been turning its focus to producing more cars and crossover vehicles that are more fuel efficient and smaller than sport utility vehicles.

Ford's European operations reported a wider pretax loss - $55 million, up from $33 million a year earlier - because of higher material costs. Revenue at the European unit increased 8.5 percent, to $6.4 billion.

The company's Asian and African businesses reported a $21 million pretax profit, down from $35 million last year. But the company's investment in Mazda produced a $112 million profit, up from $13 million.

Ford Motor Credit, the company's profitable and successful finance arm, reported a fall in profits - down $157 million from last year, to $577 million. The company said borrowing costs increased and its loans to customers were bringing in less money.

Mr. Ford said the company intended to keep the division in the company, drawing a distinction with G.M., which earlier this week said it was considering selling a majority stake in its finance arm.

Members of the Ford family were expected to meet today in one of two previously scheduled twice-yearly meetings to review the company's performance.