Επίσημο: O Mark Fields νέος CEO της Ford. Αναλαμβάνει καθήκοντα 1 Ιουλίου

Το θρίλερ της διαδοχής του Alan Mulally στο τιμόνι της Ford έλαβε τέλος αφού οι φήμες που ήθελαν τον COO της φίρμας, Mark Fields να ανεβαίνει στην ιεραρχία, επιβεβαιώθηκαν.

Την 1η Ιουλίου 2014, έπειτα από 8 χρόνια ως CEO του Μπλε Οβάλ, ο 68χρονος Mulally θα αποχωρήσει από την Ford. Η συνεισφορά του στην εικόνα αλλά και

την ιστορία της εταιρίας, είναι τέτοια, που ο Bill Ford, δισέγγονος του ιδρυτή της Ford, αναφέρεται στον Mulally ως “hall-of-fame-CEO”. Θα πρέπει φυσικά να αναφέρουμε πως ο Mulally “εκπαίδευσε” τα τελευταία χρόνια τον 53χρονο Mark Fields ώστε να συνεχίσει από εκεί που αφήνει τα πράγματα.

Σε αυτό το σημείο, δεν ξέρουμε ούτε ποιος θα διαδεχθεί τον Fields ως COO της Ford, ούτε ποια είναι τα πλάνα του Mulally για την μετά-Ford εποχή. Η εταιρία ωστόσο, τονίζει πως περιμένει ότι η αλλαγή φρουράς θα γίνει με τον πλέον ομαλό τρόπο αφού όπως αναφέρεται, ετοιμάζεται εδώ και καιρό.

Δελτίο Τύπου

Ford Announces Alan Mulally Retiring on July 1; Mark Fields Named Company President and CEO

 Alan Mulally to retire from Ford on July 1, after serving as president and CEO andleading the company’s One Ford global transformation since September 2006

 Mark Fields named Ford president and CEO, effective July 1; Fields served as COOsince December 2012 and led Ford’s transformation in North America since 2005

 Long-planned, seamless CEO transition underscores strength of Ford’s leadershipteam and succession planning process, Executive Chairman Bill Ford says

DEARBORN, Mich., May 1, 2014 – Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] announced today that AlanMulally has decided to retire from the company July 1 and Mark Fields will be named Fordpresident and chief executive officer and elected as a member of the company’s board ofdirectors.

“From the first day we discussed Ford’s transformation eight years ago, Alan and I agreed thatdeveloping the next generation of leaders and ensuring an orderly CEO succession wereamong our highest priorities,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford said. “Mark has transformed severalof our operations around the world into much stronger businesses during his 25 years at Ford.Now, Mark is ready to lead our company into the future as CEO.”

Mulally, 68, is retiring after nearly eight years leading Ford and capping a remarkable 45-yearcareer. Mulally has led Ford’s transformation and strengthened its position as one of the world’sleading global automakers. Under Mulally and the company’s One Ford plan for profitablegrowth, Ford has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of profitability, developed the strongestproduct lineup in Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious globalexpansion in the past half century.

“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful businessturnarounds in history,” Bill Ford said. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived theglobal economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies. We alwayswill be grateful to Alan for his leadership, compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that will serve our company for decades to come.”

The transition in July is approximately six months earlier than previously anticipated, followingMulally’s recommendation to accelerate the timetable based on the readiness of Ford’sleadership team.

“Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to leadFord forward, and now is the time to begin the transition,” said Bill Ford, who recruited Mulallyfrom Boeing in 2006.

Fields, 53, was named Ford’s chief operating officer in December 2012. He has been leading allof Ford’s global business operations and most skill teams, including product development,manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing, sales and service.

Fields’ role as COO has included leading the company’s weekly Business Plan Review meeting,which Mulally established to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor the globalbusiness and competitive environment. The Thursday meetings are credited with driving areliable and transparent process for running Ford’s global operations and enabling Ford’s seniorleadership to work closely together and act decisively on its plan.

Before serving as COO, Fields served as executive vice president and president – TheAmericas since October 2005. There, he led the transformation of Ford’s North Americanbusiness – turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the lastfour years. Earlier, Fields guided the product-led transformation of Ford’s European operationsand formerly held European luxury brands, as well as the relaunch of Ford’s independentoperations in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renaissance at Mazda.

Mulally thanked the Ford team for their many contributions and accomplishments.

“It has been an honor to serve and contribute to creating a viable, profitably growing companyfor the good of everyone associated with the Ford Motor Company,” Mulally said. “By workingtogether with all of our stakeholders around the world, we now are accelerating Henry Ford’soriginal vision to open the highways to all mankind.

“Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark – supported by an experienced and dedicated seniorleadership team – is absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling vision,”Mulally added.

Fields underscored his commitment to the One Ford plan, including building on the company’sunprecedented global introduction of new products, innovations and excellence.

“It is a true honor to lead this great company and this talented team into the future,” Fields said.

“Under Alan’s leadership, we have seen the power of One Ford and what a culture of positiveleadership and working together can accomplish. My commitment is to build on that success byaccelerating our pace of progress. All of us at Ford are committed to delivering even more of thegreat products and innovations that will deliver growth and define our company going forward.”

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