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Hackett to retire 1 October, Jim Farley to become CEO


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This has been long time coming and I hope Farley has a plan to revitalize Ford outside North America. This is my top 5 list for Farley:

 

1. Need faster/more products in China. Nothing should be left untouched for 3 model years in China... Ford is alone among the foreign brands that stubbornly sticks to 7 year model cycles in China. GM and Hyundai redesigns all it subcompact and compact cars and CUVs in China every 24-36 months. That's what it takes to compete in China.

2. Time to beat up Mahindra and ask them where are all the tiny 4 meter cars and CUVs they've been developing for Ford.

3. Ford should be selling trucks and vans in all of its markets. This company is built on selling trucks and vans so it boggles my mind that Ford doesn't actively participate in van market where it has presence. 

4. Need more product in South America... Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai have been feasting on Ford's ineptitude in South America, and ford has been reduced to bottom feeding with the Chinese brands in some large markets in Latin America. This is the last chance for Ford to show that it can compete in emerging markets after having failed in all the other major growth regions (India, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa).

5. Leverage your global platforms! Having C2 doesn't mean you stubbornly insist on everyone having the same Focus and Escape. Need to multiply the bodystyles and let your regions develop what makes sense. Why is it that only Europe is allowed to develop its own model (Puma) but China or South America are told they have to sit and wait for Detroit to send them new products?

 

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I'm glad he is leaving. No matter what criteria you use to grade him, it comes out bad. Farley may be no better, but it would be hard for him to be worse.

 

Anyone who was in on decision to invest BILLIONS into Chicago Assembly should be gone. CAP never deserved such an important launch as in upscale Aviator/Explorer. To threaten Oakville with closure and spend all that money on abysmal CAP was a frickin joke.

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19 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

No matter what criteria you use to grade him, it comes out bad.

 

He's directly responsible for Explorer/Aviator which are proving to be home runs.   He's directly responsible for Mach-E being Mach-E and not some Chevy Bolt looking compliance vehicle.

 

He's directly responsible for Bronco and Bronco sport which appear to be best in class contenders and a fantastic effort.

 

He's directly responsible for the upcoming F150 and Transit BEVs and a whole host of HEVs and PHEVs.  Whether you like them or not that is the future.

 

And I don't understand why you hate the cancellation of sedans when you clearly haven't purchased a new Ford vehicle in at least 18 years.

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14 minutes ago, akirby said:

 

He's directly responsible for Explorer/Aviator which are proving to be home runs.   He's directly responsible for Mach-E being Mach-E and not some Chevy Bolt looking compliance vehicle.

 

He's directly responsible for Bronco and Bronco sport which appear to be best in class contenders and a fantastic effort.

 

He's directly responsible for the upcoming F150 and Transit BEVs and a whole host of HEVs and PHEVs.  Whether you like them or not that is the future.

 

And I don't understand why you hate the cancellation of sedans when you clearly haven't purchased a new Ford vehicle in at least 18 years.

 

(And bought an Escape) lol

 

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Also, since you brought up Mach E, I saw these pics of it in Cyber Orange over at Bronco6g last night, and I actually really like it in that color:

 

 

cyber orange gt performance 4.jpg

cyber orange gt performance.jpg

cyber orange gt performance 3.jpg

cyber orange gt performance 2.jpg

Edited by rmc523
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Nice job on the Bronco and F150. But channeling, papajim. Three hours later, Ford shares are "down" on the news. Ford doesn't need another "operations" guy running the company. They need a CEO who can reverse the decline in share prices. Ford had positive earnings for Q2. This is about the Board's dissatisfaction with the price of Ford stock. Good luck to them.

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2 minutes ago, Bryan1 said:

They need a CEO who can reverse the decline in share prices. Ford had positive earnings for Q2. This is about the Board's dissatisfaction with the price of Ford stock. Good luck to them.

 

When Hackett was hired it was acknowledged as temporary for 2-3 years.  And widely known that Farley was being groomed as the successor.   If the board wanted change they wouldn't have gone with Farley.  This is just the natural succession put in place 3 years ago with the same future plans.

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33 minutes ago, akirby said:

I forgot about the Escape.  He needs to update his signature.

 

And I really like the Mach-E.  I don’t understand all the hate.

 

Me either - if I didn't have my heart set on a Bronco after these years, I might have gone with it.

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Read a couple articles on it from when he was hired. It doesn't say temporary,  but I'll take your word for it.

 

Here's the opening paragraph from Auto News:

DETROIT -- Ford, in a sweeping management shake-up, named Jim Hackett, former CEO of Steelcase, as its new chief executive, replacing Mark Fields, who is stepping down amid pressure from shareholders over a slumping stock price and during a period of rapid transformation and disruption that is rocking the auto industry."

 

https://www.autonews.com/article/20170522/OEM02/170529994/fields-departs-in-shake-up-ex-steelcase-head-jim-hackett-named-ceo

 

Also in the WSJ, it says on the Hackett hire:

"Ford Replaces CEO Mark Fields With Jim Hackett Amid Pressure on Profit

Move comes amid a significant decline in share-price value during CEO’s three-year tenure"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-to-replace-ceo-mark-fields-with-jim-hackett-1495441372

 

The NYT said he was hired to be the fix it. Maybe he fixed something, but he didn't fix the stock price. It said Ford shares rose 2.1 percent to close at $11.10 in New York on the hire. It is now $6.82 and has been on the decline for the last 5 years or so.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford+stock&oq=ford&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46j69i60l3.2104j0j4&client=ms-android-americamovil-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

 

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53 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

(And bought an Escape) lol

 

---

 

Also, since you brought up Mach E, I saw these pics of it in Cyber Orange over at Bronco6g last night, and I actually really like it in that color:

 

 

cyber orange gt performance 4.jpg

cyber orange gt performance.jpg

cyber orange gt performance 3.jpg

cyber orange gt performance 2.jpg

more I see this car the more impressed I am with it...regardless of its propulsion unit....GOOD LOOKING!

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30 minutes ago, Bryan1 said:

Nice job on the Bronco and F150. But channeling, papajim. Three hours later, Ford shares are "down" on the news. Ford doesn't need another "operations" guy running the company. They need a CEO who can reverse the decline in share prices. Ford had positive earnings for Q2. This is about the Board's dissatisfaction with the price of Ford stock. Good luck to them.

 

It's about more than just the stock price. And Ford just lost 1.9 billion in latest quarter if you don't count the VW contribution. Furthermore, Ford was struggling before the pandemic.

 

CAP has been a very problematic plant for decades and never deserved such an important investment. Only now is the Explorer starting to sell a bit better after a very damaging launch that set back Ford in many ways. Hackett is leaving for one reason

..Clay Jr. lost faith in him for many reasons. Going from U of M Athletic Director to CEO of Ford was a stretch that never made sense. Kind of like Martha running the Detroit Lions with the same results. 

 

And if you believe Hackett is the brains behind the Bronco and MachE, I have some swampland in the Everglades to sell you. The sleeper Executive in all this is the President of Ford North America.

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3 minutes ago, Bryan1 said:

Read a couple articles on it from when he was hired. It doesn't say temporary,  but I'll take your word for it.

 

Here's the opening paragraph from Auto News:

DETROIT -- Ford, in a sweeping management shake-up, named Jim Hackett, former CEO of Steelcase, as its new chief executive, replacing Mark Fields, who is stepping down amid pressure from shareholders over a slumping stock price and during a period of rapid transformation and disruption that is rocking the auto industry."

 

https://www.autonews.com/article/20170522/OEM02/170529994/fields-departs-in-shake-up-ex-steelcase-head-jim-hackett-named-ceo

 

Also in the WSJ, it says on the Hackett hire:

"Ford Replaces CEO Mark Fields With Jim Hackett Amid Pressure on Profit

Move comes amid a significant decline in share-price value during CEO’s three-year tenure"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-to-replace-ceo-mark-fields-with-jim-hackett-1495441372

 

The NYT said he was hired to be the fix it. Maybe he fixed something, but he didn't fix the stock price. It said Ford shares rose 2.1 percent to close at $11.10 in New York on the hire. It is now $6.82 and has been on the decline for the last 5 years or so.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford+stock&oq=ford&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46j69i60l3.2104j0j4&client=ms-android-americamovil-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

 

 

 

No I don't think they came out and said it.  And you don't say "he's here for 3.2 years on the dot".  But with his age, it was pretty obvious he was a short term choice to fix some things before a long term successor was groomed or brought in.

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2 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

It's about more than just the stock price. And Ford just lost 1.9 billion in latest quarter if you don't count the VW contribution. Furthermore, Ford was struggling before the pandemic.

 

CAP has been a very problematic plant for decades and never deserved such an important investment. Only now is the Explorer starting to sell a bit better after a very damaging launch that set back Ford in many ways. Hackett is leaving for one reason

..Clay Jr. lost faith in him for many reasons. Going from U of M Athletic Director to CEO of Ford was a stretch that never made sense. Kind of like Martha running the Detroit Lions with the same results. 

 

And if you believe Hackett is the brains behind the Bronco and MachE, I have some swampland in the Everglades to sell you. The sleeper Executive in all this is the President of Ford North America.

 

This sentence makes no sense lol.  The everglades IS marshes/swampland.....

 

As for Bronco/Mach E, no they didn't originate with him, but he's the one that gave them full priority to be what they could be instead of just "entrants".

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5 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

 

As for Bronco/Mach E, no they didn't originate with him, but he's the one that gave them full priority to be what they could be instead of just "entrants".


Exactly. I've had my share of criticism of Jim Hackett over the years but I have to give him credit for that. 
 

Just remember, what we now know to be Bronco Sport was originally supposed to be the Bronco proper, and if you saw what Mach-E originally was you would understand why Hackett made them start over from scratch. 

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8 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


Exactly. I've had my share of criticism of Jim Hackett over the years but I have to give him credit for that. 
 

Just remember, what we now know to be Bronco Sport was originally supposed to be the Bronco proper, and if you saw what Mach-E originally was you would understand why Hackett made them start over from scratch. 

 

I love Ford, but that "C-Max"/early Mach e was bad.

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10 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

This sentence makes no sense lol.  The everglades IS marshes/swampland.....

 

As for Bronco/Mach E, no they didn't originate with him, but he's the one that gave them full priority to be what they could be instead of just "entrants".

 

I would have approved the Bronco also....I remember arguing for the Bronco over 10 years ago and wondering why Ford let Jeep have that segment for so long. No brainer there even by my low standards. Ditto for the MachE. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the sport coupe market isn't exactly healthy. Thus a CUV 4dr Mustang.

 

The verdict is still out on the Bronco Sport. If it wasn't for the HYBRID Escape, I would have bought a new Crosstrek. Looking at the specs on the Sport, the 2021 Crosstrek is better unless Ford goes hybrid with it. The plugin Crosstrek sucks.

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5 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

I love Ford, but that "C-Max"/early Mach e was bad.


It would have been an absolute failure the likes of which have rarely been seen. It's a very good thing Hackett told them to start over, the end result looks great even though IMO it doesn't photograph well. Still don't really like it being called a Mustang but I get why they did it. 

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29 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

No I don't think they came out and said it.  And you don't say "he's here for 3.2 years on the dot".  But with his age, it was pretty obvious he was a short term choice to fix some things before a long term successor was groomed or brought in.


It was widely reported here that he was brought in as a fixer on a temporary basis due to his age and that he wasn’t going to be a long term CEO.

 

Anybody that thought otherwise wasn’t paying attention.

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8 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

I would have approved the Bronco also....I remember arguing for the Bronco over 10 years ago and wondering why Ford let Jeep have that segment for so long. No brainer there even by my low standards. Ditto for the MachE. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the sport coupe market isn't exactly healthy. Thus a CUV 4dr Mustang.

 

The verdict is still out on the Bronco Sport. If it wasn't for the HYBRID Escape, I would have bought a new Crosstrek. Looking at the specs on the Sport, the 2021 Crosstrek is better unless Ford goes hybrid with it. The plugin Crosstrek sucks.


Good grief you just don’t pay attention do you?  Without Hackett Mach-E would look like a Chevy bolt and Bronco would have probably had half the investment and be half the vehicle it is shaping up to be.  
 

He gave the engineers and designers carte Blanche to make them best in class.  That’s something that neither Mulally or Fields came close to doing on the product development side.  In fact it’s probably the first time it’s happened outside of mustang and f150.  And expect that to continue.  That is his legacy - uncompromising best in class products.  

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46 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

No I don't think they came out and said it.  And you don't say "he's here for 3.2 years on the dot".  But with his age, it was pretty obvious he was a short term choice to fix some things before a long term successor was groomed or brought in.

 

Thanks for the info. FordBuyer said it was more than just the stock price, so that means the stock price was part of it. Just mentioning that because nobody else did. Then after Akirby's post I went back to look at the Hackett hiring articles and they all mentioned the stock price in the title or opening paragraph. Then went back 5 years just to find out if he was able to grow the share price or not or if the price didn't just decline because of the pandemic. Shareholders have lost HALF of their Ford stock in the last five years, excluding dividends. I'm not a Hackett hater like papajim, but you cannot build a company like that.  If Farley cannot raise share prices he'll be gone in less than 3 years. Three seems to be the magic number at Ford's corner office these days.

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9 minutes ago, akirby said:


Good grief you just don’t pay attention do you?  Without Hackett Mach-E would look like a Chevy bolt and Bronco would have probably had half the investment and be half the vehicle it is shaping up to be.  
 

He gave the engineers and designers carte Blanche to make them best in class.  That’s something that neither Mulally or Fields came close to doing on the product development side.  In fact it’s probably the first time it’s happened outside of mustang and f150.  And expect that to continue.  That is his legacy - uncompromising best in class products.  

 

I'll give you and Hackett that for Bronco and MachE, but why not "carte blanche" on Explorer, Escape, Ranger, and Bronco Sport??? It's taking appearance packages a year or two later to make them appealing. And why would Hackett sign off on spending billions on that horrific plant called CAP??? That alone probably did him in let alone falling stock price, market share, profit margin, quality, reliability, problematic launches, no dividend increase for years before suspension, and on and on. 

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19 minutes ago, Bryan1 said:

Shareholders have lost HALF of their Ford stock in the last five years, excluding dividends. I'm not a Hackett hater like papajim, but you cannot build a company like that.  If Farley cannot raise share prices he'll be gone in less than 3 years.

 

As long as Ford keeps "straddling the old and new worlds" as Hackett said earlier this year, there's no chance that Ford, or Ford stock, will grow significantly.

 

Hackett has done a good job getting Ford to open the door to the new world. But the amount of legacy baggage from the old world at Ford is still huge, and it's going to take a lot of work to purge it. I'm sure Farley understands this.

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25 minutes ago, Bryan1 said:

 

Thanks for the info. FordBuyer said it was more than just the stock price, so that means the stock price was part of it. Just mentioning that because nobody else did. Then after Akirby's post I went back to look at the Hackett hiring articles and they all mentioned the stock price in the title or opening paragraph. Then went back 5 years just to find out if he was able to grow the share price or not or if the price didn't just decline because of the pandemic. Shareholders have lost HALF of their Ford stock in the last five years, excluding dividends. I'm not a Hackett hater like papajim, but you cannot build a company like that.  If Farley cannot raise share prices he'll be gone in less than 3 years. Three seems to be the magic number at Ford's corner office these days.

 

Well, Wall Street is the same place that gives Tesla a $1,500 share price, so...

 

They didn't like Hackett's code talk and want a bullet point list of all products and decisions for the next 5 years or else they hate you.  And even then they'd find a reason to not like the plan.  Hackett isn't/wasn't very good on presenting the message to the public, but it sounds like behind the scenes he got things going in the right direction, whether Wall Street acknowledges it or not.

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Ford's incoming Chief Executive Jim Farley said on Tuesday he wants to expand the automaker's operations into related technology fields, including software, fleet management and electric vehicle charging.

"These are new growth initiatives that could create a lot of value for the company," Farley told Reuters, after Ford announced that he will succeed Jim Hackett as the automaker's fourth CEO since 2014.

In addition to Ford's work on self-driving vehicles, "these are concrete areas that will change Ford," Farley said. "They're going to impact the company's future look and feel."

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6 hours ago, Moosetang said:

Autoextremist tomorrow will be 2,000 words worth of wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

 

Autoextremist posted his first rant earlier this afternoon. http://www.autoextremist.com/

 

Last 2 paragraphs sum up his admittedly extreme opinion very well.

 

Quote

"In The Last Worthless Evening, Don Henley sings about “Time, time, ticking… ticking away” in a wistful lament, and his melancholy refrain somehow seems sadly appropriate right about now with everything that’s going on in the world. Time is still ticking away for the Ford Motor Company, whether anyone over in Dearborn wants to admit it, or not.
 
As for Jim Farley being CEO? When everything is factored in, he is simply the wrong person, at the wrong time, at the wrong car company.

Edited by rperez817
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