Mark Fields, the head of Ford’s North American operations, is expected to succeed Alan Mulally as CEO of Ford Motor Company. According to a report from Bloomberg, Ford will soon announce Fields’ promotion to CEO and reveal the timing of Mulally’s departure.
Despite previous reports stating that Mulally will remain in charge through 2014, two people familiar with the matter said he will step down this year. The same sources said that Mulally will leave the company for another substantial role, without elaborating. An official announcement may be made as early as May 1.
Fields, 53, has been with Ford for 25 years and has worked beside Mulally as Chief Operating Officer for the last 17 months. Mulally praised Fields in 2006 for going against Ford’s culture of hiding bad news by becoming the first executive to admit a problem to the new boss.
Top executives are required to report on their initiatives during Thursday meetings using a green, yellow or red code to indicate progress, caution or a problem. Fields was the first to put up a red light when a balky tailgate latch had stopped production of the Edge SUV in late 2006.
Fields is also said to be very passionate about his work, and doesn’t hesitate to defend his decisions – sometimes fiercely. During a Ford executive meeting in 2006, Fields almost started a fight with then-Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair, who was insisting on budget cuts for Field’s “Bold Moves” ad campaign.
“When you run the f—ing business, you can do it,” shouted Fields, who jumped across the table and had to be restrained by Bill Ford. Fields acknowledges the incident described in the 2012 book “American Icon” by Bryce Hoffman and says he always felt “passionate” about the business.
Before he became head of Ford’s Americas operations in 2005, Fields was executive vice president of Ford of Europe and also ran the automaker’s European luxury brands – Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Bloomberg
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