A Ford F-150 on the assembly line at the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant

Ford Motor on Wednesday offered a fourth-quarter earnings forecast that was below Wall Street's expectations.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it could see improvement in 2019 earnings and revenue as global industry sales remain flat, but it did not provide any figures.

"For 2019, we see the potential for year-over-year improvement in company revenue, EBIT and adjusted operating cash flow," Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said in a statement.

"For 2019, we expect to be able to fully fund our business needs, while maintaining cash and liquidity levels at or above our target levels," he said.

Ford said it expects 2018 adjusted earnings of $1.30 a share on revenue of $160.3 billion. In October, the Detroit automaker said it expected to earn in the range of $1.30 to $1.50 per share while analysts were expecting $1.33 per share, Refinitiv IBES data showed.

For the fourth quarter, Ford said it expects adjusted earnings of 30 cents a share, below the 32 cents analysts were expecting.