Ford chief Alan Mulally has no plans to step down any time soon following rumours that the company’s president of the America Mark Fields is being groomed to take over from him.
Mulally, 67, told reporters: “Please don’t write me off yet. I love it here.” The chief executive officer has been acclaimed for saving Ford during the economic downturn without a federal bailout or bankruptcy.
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He added: “My plan is to continue to serve as the CEO of Ford. I’m really clarifying that now. If I had any plans to do anything differently, I’d share it with everybody.”
Ford’s board is preparing to promote Fields to chief operating officer from his current post as president of the Americas as part of a plan to have him eventually succeed Mulally, according to company sources.
Fields, 51, who has been with Ford for 23 years, helped lead a transformation of the company’s North American operations from record losses four years ago to record profits this year.
The company earned US$4.14bn in North America in the first half of this year and had an operating profit margin of 10.8%.
However, Ford lost $465m overseas in the second quarter as a worsening recession in Europe dragged down results. The company projects a loss of over $1bn in Europe this year and it is also losing money in Asia.
Mulally said that Ford continues to benefit from not taking a bailout.
“The fact that we did it and that we didn’t access precious taxpayer money really helped everybody understand what Ford is really about.”
