Ford shuffles top management as it chases urgent turnaround

Move comes after automaker reports $1.7 billion loss

For nearly three years, Jim Hackett has worked to revitalize Ford Motor with a few signs of progress on either the company’s bottom line or its stock price.

On Friday, Ford added heft to the top of the company to help Hackett speed up the automaker’s recovery.

Jim Farley, 57, the current head of new business and strategy, was named to the new post of chief operating officer. He will report to Hackett and be responsible for all of Ford’s global automotive operations.

The appointment will help Ford “move with urgency to accelerate our transformation,” Hackett said in a conference call.

The move comes days after Ford reported a $1.7 billion net loss in the fourth quarter, news that caused a 9% drop in its stock price. On Friday, after the news of the appointment, the stock fell more than 1% to its lowest point in more than a year.

“Clearly we underperformed, and we know why that happened,” Hackett said Friday, adding he “couldn’t be more confident” in Ford’s turnaround plan.

When Hackett took the helm at Ford in May 2017, Ford stock was trading at $11 a share.

It was just above $8 at midday Friday.

The move appears to position Farley as Hackett’s likely successor whenever his term ends. But in the conference call, Hackett, 64, said Farley’s new appointment does not suggest that he is nearing an end to his tenure.

“This is the kind of thing I love to do,” he said. “I’m having a really fulfilling assignment here.”

As part of the announcement, Ford said Joe Hinrichs, 53, currently president of Ford’s automotive operations, would retire.

On Tuesday, Ford said its fourth-quarter loss was partly a result of a botched launch of a new Ford Explorer SUV last year, a job that was part of Hinrichs’ portfolio.

Hackett said Friday that the troublesome ramp-up had not prompted Hinrichs’ departure. “That includes Joe’s job, but also others,” Hackett said.

Hinrichs had been seen as a rival to Farley; both were considered potential chief executives before Hackett took the job in 2017.

Although Ford produces the highly profitable F-series trucks, the top-selling vehicle line in the United States, its profits have slumped for the last several years.

Hackett has worked to streamline operations, in part by discontinuing slowselling sedans and small cars in the United States.

At the same time, the company is developing new electric vehicles and roomier models that American customers favor.

In the next year or so, Ford will introduce an electric SUV styled to look like its Mustang sports car and reintroduce the Ford Bronco SUV.