Ford shakes up management after bruising year

[Wretched]

The head of Ford’s automotive division, a one-time chief executive hopeful, is to depart the company as part of an overhaul of its senior ranks, a shake-up that follows this week’s announcement that the carmaker had lost $1.7bn in the fourth quarter.

Joe Hinrichs, who is 54, will retire on March 1, the company said on Friday, while business and technology chief Jim Farley was named chief operating officer.

The US carmaker also expanded the role of Hau Thai-Tang, chief product development and purchasing officer. He will have oversight of enterprise product line management and connectivity added to his responsibilities.

The shake-up will rekindle debate over who is in pole position to replace Ford chief executive Jim Hackett, who turns 65 this year and has led the company since 2017, with both Mr Farley and Mr Thai-Tang regarded as possible successors.

Mr Farley said he wanted to bring a “greater sense of urgency” to the business, and ensure Ford avoids mistakes in the rollout of new vehicles this year. The business has been dogged by the delayed rollout of its Explorer sport utility vehicle.

He also said he would focus more on Ford’s commercial vehicle operations, which have been split off into a separate reporting stream in Europe, and move more quickly to upgrade vehicles with internet connectivity.

The commercial vehicle group is the largest in Europe with its Transit van line, and Farley wants to emulate that success in the US, where its F-series pickup trucks sell close to 1m a year.

“We have learnt so much in Europe it has really helped us understand commercial vehicles as a business, and we have to do it in all regions,” he told the Financial Times.

Mr Hackett had worked to stem losses in Europe and Latin America, and to reinvent the company to compete in a world of connected and increasingly electric vehicles.

The changes come after Ford reported on Tuesday a $1.7bn loss in the three months to the end of December on revenues of $39.7bn, down 5 per cent compared with the same period in 2018. This sparked a 10 per cent fall in the share price.

Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Auto Trader, said the shake-up came as no surprise.

“Ford reported dismal earnings on Tuesday, and being under tremendous pressure by Wall Street to show results of its $11bn restructuring, Ford has to show it was making some moves,” she said.

Mr Hackett denied the reshuffle was triggered by the company’s earnings, or by the problematic rollout of the Explorer, which was Mr Hinrichs’ responsibility.


Mr Hackett’s appointment three years ago, having run Ford’s mobility unit, was unexpected given that both Mr Farley, who at the time ran Europe, and Mr Hinrichs, who ran the Americas region, were expected to get the top position.

In his new role, Mr Farley will oversee automotive operations as well as the mobility and technology divisions he already runs.

Mr Hinrichs, a 19-year veteran at Ford, had been promoted to president of automotive in April 2019 after serving as the head of global operations. He represented Ford at the White House just last week when Donald Trump signed the new trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada.

Mr Hackett said he “was instrumental to Ford’s ability to survive the recession a decade ago without bankruptcy or taxpayer bailout, and successfully headed Ford’s operations in Asia Pacific and North America”.

https://www.ft.com/content/1d714734-...2-9ddbdc86190d

[Bossxr8]

Some one had to take the fall for the Explorer launch debacle.

It cost the company a fortune in lost sales, warranty costs and funds to fix the quality issues they launched with. More than one head should have been rolled.

[BENT_8]

And here was me thinking 'sell less, charge more' was the answer...

[simon varley]

all change, but nothing changes. still the same all white middle aged male management group

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by simon varley

all change, but nothing changes. still the same all white middle aged male management group

including Hau Thai-Tang?

[kevino]

Originally Posted by Wretched

including Hau Thai-Tang?

The opposite to Kia.

Charge less sell more.

but I never hear how Hyundai-Kia are going financially.

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by Wretched

including Hau Thai-Tang?

yup. white middle aged is a state of mind as much as physical being.

[jpd80]

They just tried to ramp up production way too quickly at Chicago, the reason being that there was no room to do pilot builds to make sure that everything would work smoothly. Q3 was the worst of lost production, Q4 sales were only down 9,000 compared to 2018.

The big shame here is that there were new product launches at two other US plants that went off without a hitch. A $2.2 billion special charge to pension funding was the bulk of the $3.6 billion drop in profit.

By the end of 2020, Ford will have renewed 75% of vehicles in it's US showroom and then begins on the great electric vehicle quest, they will have entries in most major Pick up, SUV, crossover and Van segments in the next three years.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by simon varley

all change, but nothing changes. still the same all white middle aged male management group

On a Podcast I listen too, a senior automotive analyst has stated on many occasions that Ford's boardroom needs to be cleaned out and started from fresh. Too many old ideas and doing the same things over and over with the same (poor) results.

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by kevino

but I never hear how Hyundai-Kia are going financially.

I suspect they are absolutely killing it with the amount they sell.

Every second car on road seems to be one!

[pwr4ce]

Well interesting - recently bumped into a retired salesman that I bought many Fords off. I ask his opinion of the state of the market. His comments were that there was nothing currently from Ford that he would buy !!

[kaniSS]

I've always found Fords pricing way off the worth of the car. Your average soccer mum isn't gonna fork out 50-60k for an Everest over similar priced Euro's.

Yeah price low sell more...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by kaniSS

I've always found Fords pricing way off the worth of the car. Your average soccer mum isn't gonna fork out 50-60k for an Everest over similar priced Euro's.

Yeah price low sell more...

What large Euro ladder chassis 4WD SUV can you buy for 50K?

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

What large Euro ladder chassis 4WD SUV can you buy for 50K?

Second hand you can pickup a few decent ones, but yeah no way a new one would fit the 50k bracket.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

And here was me thinking 'sell less, charge more' was the answer...

That would be the case if they were working at full capacity and selling all they make, in this case they weren't at full capacity and had to repair everything they made.

[au2000]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

What large Euro ladder chassis 4WD SUV can you buy for 50K?

Problem is most soccer mums don't really care about that, it's a status symbol only, nothing more,

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by au2000

Problem is most soccer mums don't really care about that, it's a status symbol only, nothing more,

Just like some of the pretentious people here that look down upon Kia and Hyundai.

[jpd80]

Wall Street's issue is that Ford could spend a fortune developing lots of EVs
and still not make any money, they just don't believe Ford anymore.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Wretched

Just like some of the pretentious people here that look down upon Kia and Hyundai.

Give them time, there's many stages to the process, hate, denial etc. etc. and at some point acceptance.

[Franco Cozzo]

They love playing musical management team, being a Ford executive should come with fine print saying that this opportunity may only last 2 years

[au2000]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Give them time, there's many stages to the process, hate, denial etc. etc. and at some point acceptance.

trigger, escalation, crisis, recovery and depression.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

They love playing musical management team, being a Ford executive should come with fine print saying that this opportunity may only last 2 years

Speaking to someone in c-suite recruitment, 2 years is good ... and massively off topic the board of AMP granted a massive remuneration package including 200% bonus on a $2.1mill base salary to their new CEO after announcing a 2.5 Billion loss...just imagine what you could earn if you actually made a profit and hired more people...

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by simon varley

still the same all white middle aged male management group

Originally Posted by Wretched

Hau Thai-Tang

thanks for the lols

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

They love playing musical management team, being a Ford executive should come with fine print saying that this opportunity may only last 2 years

As Monty Pyton once wrote in their credits:

"Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked."

[simon varley]

he may be ethnically Asian but I stand by my point. he is a middle aged white male same as all the rest.

[simon varley]

look at this. see how many clones there are

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...en/people.html

[simon varley]

there is another pattern at work here too

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by simon varley

yup. white middle aged is a state of mind as much as physical being.

Agree - I'm 28 but I'm a cynical old baby boomer mentally

[Sprintey]

Simon, you do understand (if your ethnicity bears any resemblance to your user tag) that by the time you reach peak career/peak earnings (usually 47) - the very criticisms you point at current management may see you get sidelined or cut in favour of someone more diverse? (Regardless of talent)

Surely the best world is where merit and competence allows one to reach their peak potential, not a world of quota based reverse discrimination?

Anyway, I liked your share price timing. The ASX200 listed company my career was with peaked when I left, still hasn't recovered.

[DFB FGXR6]

This weeks edition of Autoline After Hours has some interesting comments about the Ford shake up in the second half of the program.

http://www.autoline.tv/journal/?p=66094