In a dramatic move aimed at righting the struggling Ford Motor Co., Bill Ford, the chief executive officer and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, announced he was stepping down as the top manager of the automaker.
Baltimore-area Ford dealers responded positively to the news.
Ford?s replacement is Alan Mulally, 61, the former head of Boeing Co. who is credited with turning around the Commercial Airplanes division of Boeing.
Ford, 49, will stay on as executive chairman.
“Let me assure you: I?m not going anywhere,” Bill Ford wrote to Ford workers in an e-mail released by the company.
“As executive chairman, I intend to remain extremely active in the direction of this Company.”
He was named Chief Executive Officer on Oct. 30, 2001, and led Ford to three straight years of profitability through 2005.
Mulally spent 37 years at Boeing, most recently as executive vice president.
“I think the opportunity to work with Bill Ford and Ford Motor Co. is the only thing that could have attracted me to a job other than Boeing,” Mulally said.
Ford?s market share of the auto industry has dwindled in recent years. And Ford, the longtime No. 2 automaker in worldwide sales behind General Motors, is on the verge of slipping to No. 3 behind Toyota.
“He?s going to have huge impact on the company,” said Nick Papantonakis, sales manager at Koons Ford of Baltimore.
“He will hit the ground running. He took care of Boeing, and that?s probably bigger than Ford,” Papantonakis said.
Jim Pintos, sales manager at Miller Brothers Ford in Ellicott City, said he was a little surprised that Bill Ford stepped aside, but he said: “It seems like [the] guy did [a] good job in [his] previous position.”
Wall Street responded favorably. Shares of Ford stock closed at $8.55 Wednesday, up from $8.39 a day earlier on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kelly Carson contributed to this report.
