William Ford Jr. Is Named Chairman of No. 2 Auto Maker
For the first time since 1980, a Ford will soon be heading Ford Motor Co.
William Clay Ford Jr., 41, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, will become chairman Jan. 1. He will succeed Alex Trotman, 65, who is retiring as Ford’s chairman, president and chief executive.
Jacques Nasser, 50, now head of Ford’s global auto operations, will become president and chief executive. He will oversee day-to-day operations of the world’s second-largest auto maker.
The succession, rumored for about two years, comes a year earlier than expected and while Ford is riding high as one of the world’s best-run, most profitable vehicle makers.
“It’s a very logical succession plan,” said David Cole, director of the University of Michigan’s Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation. “It recognizes the role of the family while recognizing the need for an effective manager to run the company.”
Trotman, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in England, is credited with implementing a global restructuring plan, called Ford 2000, that has boosted efficiency and quickened product development while lowering costs and increasing profit.
“It’s been a terrific run,” said Trotman, who joined Ford in 1956 and was chairman for five years. “I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished.”
Wall Street generally applauded the announcement.
“We think the changes are a net positive for the company,” said David Bradley, analyst for J.P. Morgan Securities.
Ford’s stock, which has slumped amid the recent market turmoil, rose 6 cents to close at $43.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bradley was particularly pleased with the promotion of Nasser, whom he described as a “renowned cost cutter, a tough businessman, as well as a ‘car guy.’ ”
The analyst was less enthusiastic about William Ford Jr.’s ascent. Although he holds the young Ford in high regard, Bradley said the promotion could increase the family’s influence to the detriment of other stockholders.
The Ford family, which holds 40% of the voting shares, has long pushed to have one of its clan at the helm. William Jr. becomes the first member of the founding family to head the 95-year-old company since the retirement of his uncle Henry Ford II 18 years ago.
“I feel a great sense of pride and history,” Ford told reporters. “It is part of my heritage.”
He joined the company in 1979 and held various low-level jobs before serving in senior positions in truck, climate-control and European operations.
Ford and Nasser said they will approach running the company as a partnership. “I will lead the board, and Jac will lead the company,” said Ford, who once worked under Nasser and considers him a personal friend.
A champion of environmental issues, Ford is likely to have a strong say in the development of alternative-fuel vehicles. He has been vocal about global warming and dependence on gas-guzzling trucks.
Ford also is vice president of the Detroit Lions football team, owned by his father, William Clay Ford Sr.
Nasser, born in Lebanon and raised in Australia, brings an international perspective to the job. The executive, regarded as a people person, quickly focused Ford on creating more attractive products, accelerating cost cutting and boosting the stock. The company earned $6.9 billion last year and $3.9 billion in the first half of this year.
Also Friday, Ford said it has withdrawn from the auction of bankrupt Kia Motors Corp., citing the sizable debt of South Korea’s second-largest auto maker.
