It’s finally official – ‘the man from Boeing’, Alan Mulally, widely acclaimed as one of Ford’s best CEOs, will hand the reins to groomed successor, COO Mark Fields, from 1 July. Mulally has been president and CEO since September 2006.
Fields was named COO in December 2012 after previously heading the automaker’s Americas region. He will also join Ford’s board of directors.
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“From the first day we discussed Ford’s transformation eight years ago, Alan and I agreed that developing the next generation of leaders and ensuring an orderly CEO succession were among our highest priorities,” executive chairman Bill Ford said.
“Mark has transformed several of our operations around the world into much stronger businesses during his 25 years at Ford. Now, [he] is ready to lead our company into the future as CEO.”
Mulally, 68, is “retiring” after a 45-year career, all but the last eight at aircraft maker Boeing.
Ford said Mulally had led its “transformation and strengthened its position as one of the world’s leading global automakers”.
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By GlobalData“Under Mulally and the One Ford plan for profitable growth, [we have] achieved 19 consecutive quarters of profitability, developed the strongest product lineup in Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious global expansion in the past half century,” a statement said.
“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,” Bill Ford said. “Ford not only survived the global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies.”
The handover in July will be six months ahead of initial plan following Mulally’s recommendation to accelerate the timing based on the readiness of Ford’s management team.
Fields, 53, currently heads all of Ford’s global business operations plus product development, manufacturing, purchasing, marketing, sales and service.
The COO role has included chairing the company’s weekly business plan review meeting which Mulally established to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor global business and competition. The Thursday meetings are credited with driving a reliable and transparent process for running the global operations and enabling senior management to work closely together and act decisively on its plan.
Fields previously ran the automaker’s Americas unit from October 2005 and is credited with transforming the North American business – turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the last four years. He earlier ran European operations and the since-sold European luxury brands Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, as well as the relaunch of independent Ford operations in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renewal at Mazda.
Speculation has surrounded when Mulally would leave and what he would do next, especially after he moved to quell rumours he would not be going to Microsoft.
Retirement golf in Florida is apparently off the list.
See also: COMMENT: Alan Mulally’s Ford legacy
