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Ford's CEO Alan Mulally, believed by some to be the vicar of Henry Ford on Earth, will stay on at the company though "at least" 2014, the company announced this morning. Mulally is credited with turning around Ford without taking the company through bankruptcy, as did his (now-departed) counterparts at General Motors and Chrysler. The man almost universally expected to replace Mulally at the head of the boardroom table, Mark Fields, is being promoted from President of the Americas to Chief Operating Officer for the company, a position that's been unfilled since the last COO retired in 2006.
As part of his new responsibilities, Fields will lead the company's weekly business plan review, which has become a critical process within Ford. Beyond that very significant charge, Mulally and Bill Ford talked about the preparation of Fields on a conference call today, sounding rather more pedestrian than you'd expect from C-suite leaders at a Fortune 500 company. "The growth we've seen in him over the past seven years is remarkable. Alan has done a tremendous job mentoring him." Fields, 51, may not be ready for the CEO job just yet, but he does hold an MBA from Harvard and has 20 years of experience at the Ford organization. Among other executive shuffling announced today—mostly people moving up the ladder as Fields vacates his current position—Ford's head of marketing, Jim Farley, picks up not only a title change but "global leadership responsibility" for Lincoln. We're eager to hear more about what both Ford the company and Farley in particular envision for the stammering luxury brand, which has virtually unexplored potential. Ford's global branding is impressive, and that's due in large part to Farley's efforts. As capable and smart as Farley is, though, it's disconcerting that the new boss at Lincoln has some rather massive job responsibilities already on his plate. Lincoln needs more than marketing, and more than a part-time caretaker. As for Mulally and Fields, today's anticlimactic announcement positions the two exactly where most industry analysts expected: Mulally in a slightly more removed leadership position, and Fields increasingly taking on the day-to-day work of Ford's management. At least we won't have to wait until the next presidential election to see how this one will turn out. Read full story » from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Ford: CEO Alan Mulally Stays On Through At Least 2014, Mark Fields Promoted to COO
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