Ford CEO retires, COO steps up

Change of command comes during trying times for automaker.

DETROIT — Jim Farley will lead Ford Motor Co. into the future as the global auto industry faces a new era of autonomous and electric vehicles.

The company named Farley, 58, as its new CEO effective Oct. 1, replacing Jim Hackett, who will retire after three years at the helm. Farley, who has been with Ford for more than a decade, had been chief operating officer since February and clearly was being groomed for the top position.

He faces tough challenges as the industry emerges from the coronavirus pandemic. Ford is losing money and is transitioning from an aging model lineup to new vehicles, including those powered by electricity. It’s also in the midst of an $11 billion restructuring plan to cut costs and bureaucracy and make money off its autonomous vehicle unit.

Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, said the board was inspired by Farley’s leadership and felt the company is moving in the right direction. As COO, Farley led the company’s global markets and product development. He was in charge as Ford rolled out a revamped F-150 pickup, the new Bronco off-road SUV brand and the electric Mustang Mach-E SUV.

Farley, who was hired away from Toyota by then-CEO Alan Mulally in November 2007 to run Ford’s marketing operations, said Tuesday the company would accelerate priorities including a 10% profit margin in North America, seek immediate material and warranty cost improvements, restructure underperforming businesses, maximize opportunities in commercial vehicles and outperform the industry in rolling out new models. The 117-year-old company, he said, would grow and expand where it is strong, like making the transition from internal combustion engines to electric-powered com

mercial vehicles.

In a nod to the changing future of the auto industry, Farley left out traditional rivals General Motors and Fiat Chrysler when naming Ford’s competitors. Instead, he identified them as retail giant Amazon, Chinese search engine Baidu, electric car maker Tesla, iPhone maker Apple, and Japanese automaker Toyota.

The 65-year-old Hackett took over in May 2017. Hackett, a retired Steelcase CEO who had run Ford’s mobility efforts, will stay on as an adviser to Farley through March of 2021.

Hackett made the difficult decision to move Ford out of the sedan business in the U.S. as the market shifted dramatically to SUVs and trucks. Hackett said the company fell short of expectations for last year, and he blamed the performance largely on the flubbed launch of the new Explorer at a factory in Chicago. New Explorers

came off the assembly line with multiple problems and had to be shipped to a Detroit-area factory for repairs, delaying deliveries to customers and costing the company sales.