Ford CEO Jim Hackett is under lots of pressure as the automaker continues to see its stock price decline. With the Ford stock price on the decline, Hackett is working to turn the company around with plant closings and layoffs around the world. Most recently, Hackett replaced the “retiring ” Joe Hinrichs with Jim Farley as COO of Ford. Reports indicate that Hinrichs was retired for the botched Explorer launch.
Farley will take over as COO in March. While Hinrichs reportedly lost his job, Ford CEO Jim Hackett still has his position and terminating Hinrichs and promoting Farley appears to have bought him time with Ford’s Board of Directors. It’s interesting that only a couple years ago in 2017 former Ford CEO Mark Fields was ousted as the company’s stock price was at $10.87 per share. That price marked a decline of 36 percent while Fields was at the helm.
Ford’s stock price is even worse under Hackett’s watch recently closing at $7.89 per share. A Ford spokesperson has said that the underlying business is strong, and the automaker has an exciting series of new products set to launch this year. Those new products include the Ford Bronco and the Mustang Mach-E. If either those launches don’t go perfectly, the board’s opinion of Hackett may change quickly.
When former CEO Mark Fields was let go, reports indicated that frustrations over the stock price were what led to his ousting. Analysts say that Hackett’s restructuring plan was needed to address Ford’s excessive overhead, but many see the patience of investors wearing thin. Hackett is certainly under pressure to show an improved stock price and increasing sales. If those don’t materialize, Hackett may have to “retire.”
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Source: Detroit Free Press
Comments
Ford fix. Fire Hackett. Build cars in USA.
Totally agree with you !
I’m counting the days until this Hackett / Farley duo is out of this organization. Funds squandered on AV and electrification will take years to recover. Both of these clowns should move out to Silicon Valley so they can hang out with their tech buddies and leave the designing and building of great automobiles to normal car people. They can take their SUVs and pickup trucks with them. I’m waiting for a new generation of Ford or Lincoln sedans before I buy a Ford product again. I just hope my existing sedan last long enough without having to throw in the towel and buy a new one from a competitor.
Total vehicle sales in the US in 2019 were 17.05 million of which only 4.8 million were passenger cars. Ford (and other manufacturers) are building what the public is buying. You have to get to number 8 on the top 10 models by sales to find a sedan.
1. Ford F series
2. Ram pickup
3. Chevy Silverado
4. Toyota RAV4
5. Honda CR-V
6. Nissan Rogue
7. Chevy Equinox
8. Toyota Camry
9. Honda Civic
10. Toyota Corolla
Numbers 8,9 and 10 are sedans. If you own a restaurant and you don’t offer fish or meat one day anymore, some customers will go elsewhere!
Yeah and those sedans, and they are ahead of any Ford crossover or SUV…
As a Belgian and European I just notice that Ford is losing track in the Old Continent while they were leader in the 1990… until in the 2000.
Hackett should have been fired long time ago. He’s not a Ford man but a overrated and overpayed CEO that only wished that Ford would only produce the F-series and that’s it!
Read my lips, Ford made a BIGGER then HUGE mistake to ditch sedans, just look how Volvo is able to design sporty looking sedans without being part of the failed Premium history. Return the Focus and Fusion in the US and if you really want to save money, fire the CEO and reduce the salary of ALL management, a fix salary and a bonus, based on car sales!
In response to John Q. Public: so you completely leave a market that totals 4.8 million vehicles? In the meantime you produce four SUVs in the Lincoln line. I think this is ridiculous. The Company is run by quitters who won’t even compete with Honda, Toyota, Kia etc. And what they do release is swamped by endless recalls. I’m sure the Bronco and Mach-E (if we ever see that released) will have the same fate. Without the F150 (which I have zero interest in owning) the Company is becoming irrelevant.