Ford Announces Jim Hackett to Retire as
President and CEO; Jim Farley to Succeed Hackett as Company Continues
Transformation
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Jim Hackett, who has led Ford Motor
Company’s transformation since 2017 as president and CEO, has elected to
retire from the company
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Jim Farley, currently chief operating
officer, becomes president and CEO of Ford effective Oct. 1. He was also
elected to the Ford board of directors. He will work closely with Jim
Hackett on the transition over the next two months
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Seamless CEO transition underscores
strength of Ford’s leadership team, succession planning, and company
progress over the past three years, Executive Chairman Bill Ford says
DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 4, 2020 – Ford Motor Company today announced that
Jim Hackett, who has led the company’s transformation since 2017, plans to
retire from the company. Jim Farley has been named the company’s new
president and CEO and will join the board of directors, effective Oct. 1.
Hackett, 65, and Farley, 58, will work together on a smooth leadership
transition over the next two months.
Under Hackett, Ford moved aggressively into the new era of smart vehicles
and drove a deeper focus on customers’ wants and needs. At the same time,
Ford improved the fitness of the base business – restructuring operations,
invigorating the product portfolio and reducing bureaucracy.
“I am very grateful to Jim Hackett for all he has done to modernize Ford
and prepare us to compete and win in the future,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s
executive chairman. “Our new product vision – led by the Mustang Mach-E,
new F-150 and Bronco family – is taking shape. We now have compelling
plans for electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as full vehicle
connectivity. And we are becoming much more nimble, which was apparent
when we quickly mobilized to make life-saving equipment at the outset of
the pandemic.”
Farley, an automotive leader with deep global experience and a successful
track record, collaborated with Hackett over the past three years to
develop and execute Ford’s Creating Tomorrow Together plan to transform
Ford into a higher-growth, higher-margin business.
“Jim Farley matches an innate feel for cars and customers with great
instincts for the future and the new technologies that are changing our
industry,” Bill Ford said. “Jim’s passion for great vehicles and his
intense drive for results are well known, and I have also seen him develop
into a transformational leader with the determination and foresight to
help Ford thrive into the future.”
Farley joined Ford in 2007 as global head of Marketing and Sales and went
on to lead Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe and all Ford global
markets in successive roles. In April 2019, Farley was chosen to lead
Ford’s New Businesses, Technology & Strategy team, helping the company
determine how to capitalize on powerful forces reshaping the industry –
such as software platforms, connectivity, AI, automation and new forms of
propulsion. He was named chief operating officer in February of this year.
Hackett, who will continue as a special advisor to Ford through March of
2021, said the time is right to pass the mantle of leadership to Jim
Farley.
“My goal when I took on the CEO role was to prepare Ford to win in the
future,” Hackett said. “The hardest thing for a proud, long-lived company
to do is change to meet the challenges of the world it’s entering rather
than the world it has known. I’m very proud of how far we have come in
creating a modern Ford and I am very optimistic about the future.
“I have worked side-by-side with Jim Farley for the past three years and
have the greatest confidence in him as a person and a leader,” Hackett
said. “He has been instrumental in crafting our new product portfolio and
redesigning our businesses around the world. He is also a change agent
with a deep understanding of how to lead Ford in this new era defined by
smart vehicles in a smart world.”
Said Farley: “I love Ford and I am honored by the opportunity to serve and
create value for Ford’s employees, customers, dealers, communities and all
of our stakeholders. Jim Hackett has laid the foundation for a really
vibrant future and we have made tremendous progress in the past three
years. I am so excited to work together with the whole Ford team to
realize the full potential of this great company in a new era.”
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