Ford lines up Mark Fields to succeed Alan Mulally

Ford Motor Co. has named Mark Fields its chief operating officer, putting him in line to succeed CEO Alan Mulally when he retires no sooner than the end of 2014.

The appointment of Fields, 51, who has been president of Ford's Americas unit, was part of a sweeping overhaul of executive ranks unveiled Thursday. Speculation about Fields' appointment has been ongoing for several weeks. Mulally is 67.

Joe Hinrichs, currently group vice president and head of Asia Pacific Africa, will succeed Fields.

These other moves also take effect Dec. 1

-- Jim Farley, 50, becomes executive vice president of global marketing, sales and service as well as Lincoln. Farley, currently a group vice president, adds operating responsibility as the senior global leader for Lincoln.

-- Stephen Odell, 57, will be president of Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is currently group vice president of Ford of Europe. Africa is being realigned with Europe and the Middle East under Odell.

-- David Schoch becomes president of Asia Pacific. He is currently chairman and CEO of Ford of China.

-- John Lawler becomes chairman and CEO of the China unit. He is currently CFO of Ford Asia Pacific Africa.

"The strength of our people and stability of our team are competitive advantages for Ford," Executive Chairman Bill Ford said in the company statement. "We are fortunate to have Alan's continued leadership as well as talented senior leaders throughout our company who are developing and working together and delivering on our plan."

Fields has earned praise for leading Ford's North American unit from record losses four years ago to record profits this year. On Oct. 30, Ford's North American unit reported its highest third quarter pre-tax profit and operating margin since 2000, when the company began reporting the region as a separate business unit.

Fields won early praise from Mulally for going against Ford's culture of hiding bad news by becoming the first executive to admit a problem to the new boss. Shortly after arriving from Boeing Co. in September 2006, Mulally instituted a Thursday morning meeting where his top executives are required to report on their initiatives using a green, yellow and red color code to indicate progress, caution and a problem.

Fields was the first to put up a red light because a balky tailgate latch had halted production of the Edge SUV. Mulally, frustrated no one was reporting problems even though Ford was losing $17 billion in its automotive operations that year, began applauding when Fields revealed his red light.

"Great visibility, Mark," Mulally recalled saying in a 2010 interview. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Fields later said he had trepidations about revealing the problem because in Ford's previous culture "finger pointing would have ruled the day."

"When I showed that first red, there was a lot of tension in the room," Fields said in a 2010 interview. "Then Alan clapped."

By Bradford Wernle- Automotive News