Ford's revolving door: who will replace Mulally by 2010?
The downside to hiring a 61-year-old CEO is that as soon as he finds the executive washroom, it's time to start planning the retirement party. Ford's new CEO Alan Mulally looks young for his age, but that still doesn't change the fact that most CEOs in the auto industry call it quits in their mid-60s, with few lasting much longer according to Automotive News. If that's the case, Ford could be ready for another new CEO by the end of the decade. Perhaps that's the plan, though. The company's 45-year-old President of the Americas, Mark Fields, is a little young and inexperienced to be CEO at his age, though some felt he was still passed over for the CEO job in favor of Mulally. Bill Ford has, however, trusted him with nothing less than spearheading the effort to return the company's North American operations to profitability. Mark Schulz, Ford's 54-year-old President of International Operations, is also reportedly on Ford's short list of CEO successors.
We have our money on Mark Fields to be the next CEO of Ford Motor Company if he can make North America a profitable place for Ford to do business again. In fact, Fields will be working very closely with Mulally during Ford's turnaround and would be wise to play the role of young Padouin if he hopes to have Mulally's seat on the Jedi council some day. Whoa, ever notice how everything can be related to Star Wars?
[Source: Automotive News – sub required]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
anahit 9:31PM (9/11/2006)
Mulally's on the job mere days, you essentially say he'll be there for at least a few years and you're speculating on the subsequent CEO? How utterly pointless.
Reply
Automatica 9:55PM (9/11/2006)
Fields = Jeff Bell only bigger douchebag.
Reply
That One Person 10:46PM (9/11/2006)
I personally think Fields should have been made CEO. It's nonsense that he is "too young". After what he did with Mazda, making him CEO would be a no brainer.
But I guess they needed someone who had experience in running big companies. So they picked Mulally. I just hope Fields can knock some sense into Ford and have them producing great products. I just hope they can get some cool cars for Lincoln (Continental concept...), kill off Mercury and get a B-segment car for Ford. Do that and things will be right in this world.
Reply
Mal Fuller 10:55PM (9/11/2006)
"Whoa, ever notice how everything can be related to Star Wars?"
No, Mr. Neff, not everything can be related to Star Wars.
Reply
JB 7:12AM (9/12/2006)
I love how executives hop around from post to post, staying only a year or two at each. How can any real measurement be made when the lead time for vehicles is 2 years at least? It seems like these executives are in each position long enough to make a mess, leave it for others to fix, and move on to polish their resumes. It seems like every top exec does this - try to find one who stayed somewhere for 5 years - that's not moving up the "career ladder".
I guess that's the key to success these days - never stay long enough for your messes to catch up with you.
Reply