Reports suggest that Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields has been replaced by the head of Ford Smart Mobility Subsidiary LLC James P. Hackett. While the company is expected to make an official announcement later in the day, it's said that the move has been made due to the board losing confidence in Fields and his ambitions. Mark Fields, who assumed office as CEO of Ford since 2014, will not be the only one to be relieved from his current duties. Fields' ouster has been a part of a major management shakeup and new executives will now be taking up different roles.
In addition to Fields, Ford's Vice President (VP) of Communications, Ray Day will also be leaving the company and will be replaced by Mark Truby, who is currently the VP of communications of Ford's Asia-Pacific operations. Other executives including James Farlay, President of Ford's Europe, Middle East and Africa business, along with Joseph Hinrichs, head of Ford North America will be taking larger roles.
James Hackett will now be assuming office as Ford's new CEO
Sources close to the development have said that the shakeup has been a result of Executive Chairman Bill Ford and the rest of the board losing confidence in Fields' leadership. Fields replaced Alan Mulally in mid-2014, but lacked the latter's ability to rally employees around a common mission or to make critical decisions about the company's strategy. The dwindling stock price has been of little help to Fields' ambitions.
Directors were increasingly alarmed by the collapse of Ford's business operations, despite larger profits from the company's F-Series pickups truck range. Moreover, its share price has been down by 40 per cent under Fields, and the company has been unable to convince investors to buy more stock.
Under Fields' leadership, Ford made a shift toward becoming a mobility company with focus on autonomous driving technology, apps, ride-sharing platforms and much more. But, none of the projects have been exactly groundbreaking. Moreover, with Google and Apple too already in this space, Fields could hardly justify Ford's position and how it plans to create profits.
Bill Ford (Left) and the board weren't happy with Fields' (Right) leadership
James Hackett, who will now take up Fields' role, previously served as the Ford Director for three years before leaving the board to become the chairman of the newly formed mobility services subsidiary in March 2016. The 62 year old previously served as the chief executive of Steelcase and briefly with the University of Michigan.
We expect Ford to make a public announcement about the management shakeup in a few hours from now and will be looking keenly at the development.
Source: Forbes
