Ford’s board of directors reportedly adjourned their meeting on Thursday without announcing any executive changes or decisions related to a succession plan for CEO Alan Mulally.
Mulally, 67, is not expected to retire until the end of 2013 and a Reuters report, cited by the Detroit Free Press, suggested he might stay on as a non-executive chairman to help with the transition.
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Succession planning remains a priority for the board, the Detroit paper said. To fill top management ranks, Ford looks both inside and outside the company for candidates and starts the process years before appointments are made.
Under Mulally, Ford has developed a strong bench of insiders, with Mark Fields, 51, at the top of the list after his successful restructuring of operations in North America, a turnaround accomplished without using bankruptcy to eliminate debt.
The paper said Ford is also mulling naming Fields chief operating officer, a promotion to the number two spot which has not been filled since 2006.
Speculation rose this week in the wake of a Bloomberg News report that the directors were preparing to name Fields as COO.
Such an appointment would have to be reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and that did not occur on Thursday, the paper said.
“We have no plans to make any announcements today,” Ford spokesman Jay Cooney told the Detroit Free Press.
