Ford Announces Jim Hackett to Retire as President and CEO; Jim Farley to Succeed

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Ford Announces Jim Hackett to Retire as President and CEO; Jim Farley to Succeed Hackett as Company Continues Transformation

• Jim Hackett, who has led Ford Motor Company’s transformation since 2017 as president and CEO, has elected to retire from the company

• Jim Farley, currently chief operating officer, becomes president and CEO of Ford effective Oct. 1. He was also elected to the Ford board of directors. He will work closely with Jim Hackett on the transition over the next two months

• Seamless CEO transition underscores strength of Ford’s leadership team, succession planning, and company progress over the past three years, Executive Chairman Bill Ford says


DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 4, 2020 – Ford Motor Company today announced that Jim Hackett, who has led the company’s transformation since 2017, plans to retire from the company. Jim Farley has been named the company’s new president and CEO and will join the board of directors, effective Oct. 1.

Hackett, 65, and Farley, 58, will work together on a smooth leadership transition over the next two months.

Under Hackett, Ford moved aggressively into the new era of smart vehicles and drove a deeper focus on customers’ wants and needs. At the same time, Ford improved the fitness of the base business – restructuring operations, invigorating the product portfolio and reducing bureaucracy.

“I am very grateful to Jim Hackett for all he has done to modernize Ford and prepare us to compete and win in the future,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman. “Our new product vision – led by the Mustang Mach-E, new F-150 and Bronco family – is taking shape. We now have compelling plans for electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as full vehicle connectivity. And we are becoming much more nimble, which was apparent when we quickly mobilized to make life-saving equipment at the outset of the pandemic.”

Farley, an automotive leader with deep global experience and a successful track record, collaborated with Hackett over the past three years to develop and execute Ford’s Creating Tomorrow Together plan to transform Ford into a higher-growth, higher-margin business.

“Jim Farley matches an innate feel for cars and customers with great instincts for the future and the new technologies that are changing our industry,” Bill Ford said. “Jim’s passion for great vehicles and his intense drive for results are well known, and I have also seen him develop into a transformational leader with the determination and foresight to help Ford thrive into the future.”

Farley joined Ford in 2007 as global head of Marketing and Sales and went on to lead Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe and all Ford global markets in successive roles. In April 2019, Farley was chosen to lead Ford’s New Businesses, Technology & Strategy team, helping

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.
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the company determine how to capitalize on powerful forces reshaping the industry – such as software platforms, connectivity, AI, automation and new forms of propulsion. He was named chief operating officer in February of this year.

Hackett, who will continue as a special advisor to Ford through March of 2021, said the time is right to pass the mantle of leadership to Jim Farley.

“My goal when I took on the CEO role was to prepare Ford to win in the future,” Hackett said. “The hardest thing for a proud, long-lived company to do is change to meet the challenges of the world it’s entering rather than the world it has known. I’m very proud of how far we have come in creating a modern Ford and I am very optimistic about the future.

“I have worked side-by-side with Jim Farley for the past three years and have the greatest confidence in him as a person and a leader,” Hackett said. “He has been instrumental in crafting our new product portfolio and redesigning our businesses around the world. He is also a change agent with a deep understanding of how to lead Ford in this new era defined by smart vehicles in a smart world.”

Said Farley: “I love Ford and I am honored by the opportunity to serve and create value for Ford’s employees, customers, dealers, communities and all of our stakeholders. Jim Hackett has laid the foundation for a really vibrant future and we have made tremendous progress in the past three years. I am so excited to work together with the whole Ford team to realize the full potential of this great company in a new era.”
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Florida7382

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I wonder what the new EV strategy will be? New CEO needs to show quick results and EVs are consuming a lot of R&D money with very little revenue so far.

On the other hand they mention MEE there at least as part of their future product vision..
 

timbop

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I wonder what the new EV strategy will be? New CEO needs to show quick results and EVs are consuming a lot of R&D money with very little revenue so far.
Yes, I am concerned about that too. Hopefully Farley follows through with electrification, but "I've got a bad feeling about this..."
 

JamieGeek

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I wonder what the new EV strategy will be? New CEO needs to show quick results and EVs are consuming a lot of R&D money with very little revenue so far.

On the other hand they mention MEE there at least as part of their future product vision..
Might want to read this post:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...-from-dealers-training.1177/page-4#post-26291

I wouldn't expect the direction to change much, if at all. Especially because of this:
In April 2019, Farley was chosen to lead Ford’s New Businesses, Technology & Strategy team
 


ChasingCoral

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Yes, I am concerned about that too. Hopefully Farley follows through with electrification, but "I've got a bad feeling about this..."
Farley was reported to be integral to two big pushes in Ford: branding and electrification. He's unlikely to falter on electrification unless he wants to write off the EU/UK market.
 

macchiaz-o

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I've been following him on Twitter for some time... He's really into the motorsports/performance stuff.

I hope it works out well for all of us. Alan Mulally made some good short term fiscal decisions during his tenure, but at the cost of customers. He allowed the Fiesta to be released with an automated manual transmission that was internally known to be defective and has caused me much grief.

In his short tenure, Jim Hackett seems to have been an exceptional leader, empowering and requiring people to do the right thing, rewarding and outwardly exposing exceptional leaders, communicating well with the workforce, etc.

I hope Jim Farley can live up to that. I definitely want to see way more battery electrics coming out of all the manufacturers, including Ford.
 

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Bummed to hear Hackett was forced into retirement. That guy really seemed to get it when it came to electrification and seeing where the market was headed back in 2017 when he took over. Bronco and MME are the result of his leadership.

My understanding is that Farley is the one who pushed to make the Mach-E truly a Mustang and not just "inspired". Hopefully he continues to push EV development and further invest into the category because EVs aren't going away. GM and FCA-PSA are both making massive pushes into R&D for EVs with new dedicated EV platforms emerging between 2021-2023.
 

ChasingCoral

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hybrid2bev

hybrid2bev

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From our team huddle today Bill Ford said that Hackett approached him about it being time to make the transition to Farley. Does not sound like Hackett was forced out. Bill Ford even commented that this will be the smoothest leadership transition in his career.

Farley is a 'car' guy. I think he'll be a great product focused guy to have as our CEO. Farley is all about Kaizen, seeking perfection through continuous improvement. I think he'll be wonderful for our EV/AV plans.
 

Njia

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In his short tenure, Jim Hackett seems to have been an exceptional leader, empowering and requiring people to do the right thing, rewarding and outwardly exposing exceptional leaders, communicating well with the workforce, etc....
"Exceptional..." I don't think that word means what you think it means.
 

silverelan

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Who said he was forced into retirement?
Captain Subtext.

Hackett said six months ago he wasn't going anywhere during the last big executive shakeup. That one was where Farley got promoted to the C-suites and Hinrichs was unexpectedly announced to be retiring.
 

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Guess Ford will fall to the bottom CEO list, with a 2020 turnover. Hopefully things stabilize a little now.

Auto CEO Tenure
 

macchiaz-o

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"Exceptional..." I don't think that word means what you think it means.
I'm a software engineer. Exceptions can be a nightmare to repair, especially when they aren't labelled explicitly as such. So I do understand that the word can connote something amazingly good or unexpectedly bad. Interpret it however you prefer at this time. ;)
 
 




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