Ford CEO speeds up departure

Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally is leaving earlier than expected, news reports said Monday. The company is naming a long-term employee as the next in line for the top job. I’m sure General Motors is excited the news isn’t about them.

Mike Ramsey had this story for the Wall Street Journal:

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally will leave the company earlier than expected after a more than seven-year run in which he oversaw a significant expansion of the U.S. auto maker, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Mulally’s successor will be Mark Fields, 53 years old, a Ford veteran who survived management turmoil in the years before Mr. Mulally’s 2006 arrival from Boeing Co. Mr. Fields, the company’s operating chief, has won praise along with Mr. Mulally for getting Ford’s diverse operations to function as a single business with shared parts, models and goals.

The move may come as soon as July, the people said. Earlier he said he would remain with Ford through at least 2014. Mr. Mulally, in China for the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, couldn’t be reached on Monday for comment. Last week, he said: “We’ve got a great succession plan. We have nothing new to announce on our succession plan at this point.” Ford declined to comment.

A midyear departure for Mr. Mulally would be earlier than previously indicated. One person close to the situation said the company believes Mr. Fields has proved himself capable in his 15 months as COO. Mr. Mulally also wants to get started with his post-Ford career, likely serving on corporate boards, this person said.

Bloomberg Businessweek said the move would bring in the next chapter for the automaker and recapped Mulally’s bold moves in the top job in a story by Keith Naughton:

The transition will bring an end to a storied chapter in Ford’s history, in which the automaker narrowly avoided bankruptcy thanks to Mulally’s management and a bet-the-business $23 billion loan. Mulally signed off on the loan shortly after arriving from Boeing Co. in 2006 and turned around the automaker by slashing costs and overhauling its lineup with stylish, fuel-efficient models that have won over a new generation of drivers.

 “A lot of great CEOs leave and then there’s chaos behind them,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford, great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, said April 16 on Bloomberg TV. “Alan and I have talked about that — the importance of the final act of a great CEO is having a great transition.”

Ford is planning to make this announcement now to provide clarity on its leadership and an orderly transition of power, the people said. Fields emerged as Mulally’s likely successor when he was promoted to COO in December 2012. Ford had said that Mulally would stay through 2014.

 “There were these rumblings about how long Mulally was going to stay and that caused a distraction,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst with auto researcher Kelley Blue Book. “They decided ‘We’re not going to wait until everybody’s jabbing them about what’s going on at Ford.’ They’re taking control of the situation and saying, ‘Mulally is leaving and Fields is coming in.’”

Chris Woodyard and Alisa Priddle wrote for USA Today about the contrast between the methodical rise of Fields with the quick ascension of GM CEO Mary Barra:

Unlike the surprisingly quick announcement and promotion of Mary Barra to CEO of General Motors, Fields has been running the daily operations at Ford for 15 months and taken Mulally’s spot in key planning meetings in what is viewed as a thorough and lengthy transition.

Mulally, meanwhile, has said he is concentrating on longer-term strategy and he has already taken a lower profile, such as, for example skipping public appearances at last week’s press preview of the New York Auto Show where the redone 2015 Ford Mustang and the 50th anniversary of the Mustang were featured.

Fields, 53, is credited with restructuring operations in North America prior to his promotion in 2012 to the COO.

At the time of Fields’ promotion, Mulally, 68, confirmed plans to remain with the automaker through the end of this year, but the board of directors is said to be open to an earlier date.

The New York Times story by Bill Vlasic chronicled Fields’ rise through the ranks and his increasing level of responsibility:

Last week, he gave the opening speech at the media previews for the New York International Auto Show, and was host of a company event at the Empire State Building to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ford Mustang.

He will inherit some big challenges as the next chief executive, including shepherding the introduction later this year of Ford’s first aluminum-body pickup truck.

“Mark has been well-positioned for this role for years,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with the research firm Kelley Blue Book. “He certainly has a good sense of the international markets as well as North America.”

Mr. Brauer said Mr. Mulally helped change a culture of infighting that plagued Ford for years before his arrival. “I think Mark learned from Alan that turbulence and rivalries are no good for the company,” he said.

Ford is expected to report healthy first-quarter earnings this Friday, primarily because of the strength of its sales and profits in the United States market.

I’ll bet Barra is slightly jealous of the company that’s being handed to Fields compared with the public relations nightmare that she inherited. It will be interesting to see the next generation of automakers as they move past the threat of bankruptcy and into a healthier operating environment. Both CEOs face challenges.