Ford sought new face to steer automaker back to prosperity

DEARBORN, Mich. — After five years of running the company that made his last name a household word, Bill Ford decided earlier this year he wasn't the right person for the job.

In late spring, Ford's chairman and chief executive quietly told his board he wanted to search for a new leader.

On Tuesday, he revealed his choice: Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief Alan Mulally, who led a complete makeover that made the aerospace company more competitive.

Bill Ford, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, said he looked for someone who had been through the turmoil and transition his family's 103-year-old company is facing. He candidly admitted he couldn't do it all.

"I went to the board earlier this summer and said, 'I've got too much to do. I'm wearing too many hats.' "

"In this environment, it was clear to me I needed somebody with a skill set who can take us further," he told a news conference Tuesday. "I think everybody's skill set doesn't fit every era and every time.

"When I looked at what we need now, it was very apparent to me that I wanted somebody, if that person existed, who had major turnaround experience in an industrial company and who was willing, ready and able to take on this challenge."

Bill Ford struggled for five years to steer the company toward financial stability.

He said he decided to remain on as executive chairman to continue helping with strategy and to be the face of the company to dealers, employees and suppliers.

The change comes more than seven months into a restructuring, which is the second under Bill Ford's watch and has so far failed to revive the nation's No. 2 automaker.

Under the first plan, Ford closed five plants and cut 35,000 jobs, but its North American operations failed to turn around.

The latest plan, announced in January, would cut up to 30,000 jobs and close 14 facilities by 2012.

Further steps will be announced later this month.

Since Bill Ford became CEO, the automaker's stock price has fallen nearly 40 percent and its share of the U.S. and global car market continues to drop.

The company lost $1.4 billion in the first half of this year.

"An outside perspective is exactly what this company needs," said John Casesa, managing partner at Casesa Strategic Advisors. "The business model that has worked for decades for Ford is clearly broken."

Bill Ford has served as CEO since October 2001 and been chairman since 1999. He owns more than 10 million shares that have a market value of more than $70 million.

The Princeton-educated vegetarian and environmentalist took control of the company when it was mired in losses and plagued by eroding sales, questions about vehicle quality and the Firestone tire crisis.

Ford's family still owns a 40 percent voting stake in the company.

The company pledged in July to speed up the restructuring.

At the time, Bill Ford said the company had been caught off guard by the speed of the consumer shift away from pickups and SUVs to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Ford shares rose 12 cents to close at $8.39 in trading before the announcement. Its shares rose another 34 cents in after-hours trading.

Material from Bloomberg News was used in this report. Associated Press reporters Sarah Karush in Detroit and Dave Carpenter in Chicago contributed to this report.