Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Bill Ford has resigned as CEO of Ford.

Bill Ford has resigned as CEO of Ford Motor Company. He has been replaced by Alan Mulally as president and chief executive officer. Mulally led the several-year turnaround process of Boeing, which was in a financial crisis prior to his involvement. Bill Ford will continue his duties as executive chairman of the company. Bill Ford, who said he would remain "extremely active" in the business, praised Mulally as "an outstanding leader and a man of great character." Developing…

"One of the three strategic priorities that I've focused on this year is company leadership. While I knew that we were fortunate to have outstanding leaders driving our operations around the world, I also determined that our turnaround effort required the additional skills of an executive who has led a major manufacturing enterprise through such challenges before," Bill Ford wrote in an email to Ford employees today.

"That's why I'm very pleased to announce that Alan Mulally, who turned around the Commercial Airplanes division of The Boeing Company, will become our president and CEO, effective immediately. Alan has deep experience in customer satisfaction, manufacturing, supplier relations and labor relations, all of which have applications to the challenges of Ford. He also has the personality and team-building skills that will help guide our Company in the right direction."

"Clearly, the challenges Boeing faced in recent years have many parallels to our own," Bill Ford said.

Mulally, 61, has spent 37 years at The Boeing Company, most recently as executive vice president. In addition, he has also been president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes since 2001. In that position he was responsible for all of the company's commercial airplane programs and related services, which in 2005 generated record orders for new business and sales of more than $22.6 billion. Mulally was named president of Commercial Airplanes in September 1998. The responsibility of chief executive officer for the business unit was added in March 2001.

"I think the opportunity to work with Bill Ford and Ford Motor Company is the only thing that could have attracted me to a job other than Boeing, where I have so many great friends and memories," Mulally said. "I'm looking forward to working closely with Bill in the ongoing turnaround of this great Company. I'm also eager to begin engagement with the leadership team. I believe strongly in teamwork and I fully expect that our efforts will be a productive collaboration."

Mulally noted that many of the challenges he encountered in commercial airplane manufacturing are analogous to the issues at Ford.

"Just as I thought it was appropriate to apply lessons learned from Ford to Boeing, I believe the reverse is true as well," Mulally said. "I also recognize that Ford has a strong foundation upon which we can build. The Company's long tradition of innovation, developing new markets, and creating iconic vehicles that represent customer values is a great advantage that we can leverage for our future."

Bill Ford said he expected Mulally would assist Mark Fields and the Way Forward team as they accelerate their business plan.

"After dealing with the troubles at Boeing in the post-9/11 world, Alan knows what it's like to have your back to the wall – and fight your way out with a well-conceived plan and great execution," Bill Ford said in his note to employees. "He also knows how to deal with long product cycles, changing fuel prices and difficult decisions in a turnaround."

Prior to his current position, Mulally served as president of Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems and senior vice president of The Boeing Company. Appointed to that role in February 1997, he was responsible for Boeing’s defense, space and government business.

Beginning in 1994, he was senior vice president of Airplane Development for

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

I'm glad he decided to step down. He has failed to turn that company around. I don't think he has any real vision for the company. If his last name wasn't Ford, he wouldn't have received the job in the first place.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

This could be good, as long as Ford doesn't try and micro manage and let the new CEO do his job his way.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Very true. I'm not conviced that family is as smart as everyone thinks they are. The new executive should try to bring some new ideas and ways of doing things.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Bill Ford is doing the right thing for his company and thinking out side the box by letting somebody else rejuvenate his company.

Reliquishing command is very difficult for any president to do but I am sure he had help from the company board.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

If I remember correctly, I think his family has around 40% of the ownership stock, so maybe it was a family fight. I just haven't been the biggest fan of that family. The thing that will prove if he is really thinking outside the box is if the new guy brings the company in a new direction.

I really hope for the employees sake that they figure it out.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

You are right......we are talking about American jobs at stake.

We don't need 10K more people on the street like Intel is getting ready to do.....just more Americans out of work.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

I wasn't aware of the Intel issue but I'm surprised that they are having problems. They got the contract for Apple now and I thought they had a contract for the Xbox 360. Odd.

Well there isn't all bad news. https://dodgechallenger.com/forums/m_5746/tm.htm There is some good news out there.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

With AMD, they are losing business. AMD has become a strong processor company and reliable and offer a better price, so Intel needs to keep up. I run an AMD processor on my home computer. I will have an Intel in the next year only because I want a laptop and I will be getting that new Macbook Pro.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

I never heard of AMD before; however, considering how much I'm in the tech world that is no surprise. Where did they come from?

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Here is the link to their history
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Weblets/0,,7832_10554,00.html

They started out on California.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Thanks for sharing that. Shows how much I really know about tech (next to nothing). At least they are an American company, so if Intel has to lay off, many new jobs will probably be made at AMD due to increase production.

RE: Bill Ford resigns as Ford CEO
 

Here is another article which gives more details.

Ford chief executive driven out by investor pressure
From Tom Bawden, in New York

The Times September 06. 2006

WILLIAM Clay Ford Jr yesterday bowed to shareholder pressure and relinquished his role as chief executive of Ford, the ailing motor company set up by his great grandfather.

The low-profile Mullaly will need to act fast, dramatically and with his executive chairman’s full support if sceptics are to be diverted for long

Alan Mulally, a vice-president of Boeing, takes up the top job with immediate effect, with Mr Ford remaining as executive chairman.

Mr Mulally, who was passed over for the top job at Boeing last summer, is a renowned cost-cutter. During a stint running Boeing’s commercial aircraft business he returned the unit to profitability, in part by cutting more than 30,000 jobs.

Ford’s investors have severely punished the company for making losses in North America in seven of the past eight quarters as soaring petrol prices dented demand for pick-up trucks and SUVs at the same time as pension and healthcare costs spiralled.

The company’s shares have halved since the start of last year as pressure has mounted from investors for dramatic action to turn Ford around.

Last month, it emerged that Mr Ford had approached Carlos Ghosn, head of the Nissan-Renault alliance, to add the US carmaker to his group. But Mr Ghosn told Mr Ford that General Motors had already approached him and that he would consider the Ford proposal only if the GM discussions fell through.

Last Thursday Ford put its Aston Martin brand up for sale, to enable the company to focus more attention on its main businesses.


Two days later, Mr Ford hinted in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Aston Martin sale was only part of a much larger restructuring.

“We understand we’re in trouble in North America. We understand that it requires extraordinary action, and we are taking that. It’s important that people understand that we get it,” Mr Ford told Newsweek.

Mr Ford added that he was actively looking for new managers and suggested that even his own job was not safe.

Investors welcomed the appointment of Mr Mulally, sending the company’s shares up by $0.36, or 4.3 per cent, to $8.75 in after-hours trading.

Mr Ford, 49, took up the mantle of chief executive at the carmaker in 2001. Mr Mulally, 61, a native of Kansas, joined Boeing in 1969.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/ar...345107,00.html