Officially Official: Ford Confirms Jim Hackett’s Appointment As CEO

Ford Motor Company has officially confirmed reports that Mark Fields will be replaced as company CEO by Executive Chairman of Smart Mobility Jim Hackett. The changeup will take effect on June 1^st.

“We’re moving from a position of strength to transform Ford for the future,” says Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. “Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space. He’s a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business.”

Hackett, 62, served as CEO of office furniture company Steelcase from December, 1994 to February, 2014, during which time he was responsible for a comprehensive turnaround at the company. He later became the interim athletic director for the University of Michigan from October, 2014 to March, 2016, before being made Ford’s Executive Chairman of Smart Mobility.

Mark Fields, 56, has served as Ford Motor Company CEO since taking the reins from Alan Mulally in July, 2014. Under his leadership, Ford achieved record profit levels in 2015 and 2016, while starting down a path of expanding its core business by adding mobility services.

“Mark Fields has been an outstanding leader and deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe at Ford,” Bill Ford says. “His strong leadership was critical to our North American restructuring, our turnaround at the end of the last decade, and our record profits in the past two years.”

In addition to Jim Hackett’s appointment as CEO, Ford is making several additional changes to its global leadership team:

• Mark Truby (47) is now Vice President of Communications, effective immediately. Previously, he led Ford’s Communications in the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East & Africa markets. He replaces Ray Day, who will provide consultation from Ford until his retirement from the company next year.
• Executive VP Jim Farley (54), Ford’s President of Europe, Middle East & Africa, will be made President of Global Markets. In his new role, Farley will oversee all of Ford’s business units – The Americas; Asia Pacific; and Europe, Middle East & Africa – as well as Lincoln Motor Company and Ford’s Global Marketing, Sales and Service.
• Executive VP Joe Hinrichs (50), Ford President of the Americas, will be made President of Global Operations. In this role, Hinrichs will oversee global Product Development; Manufacturing and Labor Affairs; Quality; Purchasing; and Sustainability, Environmental and Safety Engineering.
• Marcy Klevorn (57) will be made Ford’s President of Mobility, taking over for Jim Hackett as the head of Ford Smart Mobility LLC. She will also oversee Information Technology; and Global Data, Insight and Analytics. Klevorn currently serves as Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Intormation Technology.
• Paul Ballew (52), who leads Ford’s Global Data and Analytics teams, has been named Global Chief Data and Analytics Officer. He will report to Klevorn.