Ford Steps Down as Automaker’s Chief Executive
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Ford Motor Co. unexpectedly named Boeing Co. executive Alan Mullaly to replace Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford, great-grandson of the struggling automaker’s founder. Mr. Ford will become executive chairman.
“An outside perspective is exactly what this company needs,” said John Casesa, managing partner at Casesa Strategic Advisors, a financial consultant in New York. “The business model that has worked for decades for Ford is clearly broken.”
Bill Ford, 49, has been battling $1.44 billion in losses in the first half of this year. Ford relies on sales of pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles for profits. Sales of those vehicles have been falling, leading to losses in North America seven of the past eight quarters.
Bill Ford, who took over as CEO in 2001, had said over the past year he wasn’t necessarily going to have a long run as CEO.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine this week, Bill Ford said he’s willing to recruit people to fill jobs “regardless of the position.” Asked by Newsweek if that meant “all the way up to your own job,” Ford replied, “Absolutely.”
In Sept. 2005, he confirmed that he had approached Dieter Zetsche, now chief executive officer of Daimler-Chrysler AG, and Carlos Ghosn, chief of Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. and France’s Renault SA.
