More Shake-Ups at Ford
12/9/04 | 02:58 PM
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Ford Motor Co. President Nick Scheele, who helped lead the second-largest U.S. automaker's recovery efforts after the massive Firestone tire recalls, will retire early next year after 38 years with Ford, the company said on Thursday.
Jim Padilla, who became chief operating officer in April, will succeed Scheele and become a member of the board, the company said. Ford Vice Chairman Alan Gilmour, 70, will also retire with Scheele, effective Feb. 1.
Scheele, 60, who has played a diminished role since a management reshuffle and is recovering from hip surgery, had been widely expected to retire.
"The time was right for me ... I had already delayed retirement twice," Scheele told Reuters in an interview. "The timing inside the company is good as well because we have got the next generation of management in place."
The British-born executive oversaw the painful restructuring program Ford launched in 2002, when the automaker cut 35,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force. Ford also announced plans to kill off four low-profit vehicles and close about seven North American plants.
"In the last three years I have helped get us back to a position which was difficult to envision some three years ago," said Scheele.
Ford had net income of $495 million last year after losses of $5.45 billion in 2001 and $980 million in 2002 following the expensive Firestone tire recall, which U.S. safety regulators have linked to about 270 deaths, many in rollover accidents involving Ford's Explorer SUV.
Through September of this year, Ford earned $3.38 billion. But the automaker has been losing U.S. market share to Asian and domestic rivals this year, with sales of its cars and trucks down 5 percent year-to-date.
"The challenge ahead (for Ford) is how to be profitable in a time with very large excess capacity in the industry," said analyst Dave Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research. "It's going to be a very difficult era to be profitable."
Scheele, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for helping turn around Ford's Jaguar division in the 1990s, missed work for two months this fall during his recovery from hip replacement surgery.
His tenure at Ford was not without controversies. He ran into problems last year for ordering consolidation of the company's multibillion-dollar advertising budget with WPP Group PLC (London:WPP.L - News), led by his friend Martin Sorrell. Ford later reversed that decision.
Gilmour, also a Ford veteran, was coaxed out of retirement in 2002, and took over as chief financial officer to help launch the company's turnaround plan. Last year, Ford controller Don Leclair took over as CFO, while Gilmour stayed on to oversee long-term strategic issues such as health care.
Jim Padilla, who became chief operating officer in April, will succeed Scheele and become a member of the board, the company said. Ford Vice Chairman Alan Gilmour, 70, will also retire with Scheele, effective Feb. 1.
Scheele, 60, who has played a diminished role since a management reshuffle and is recovering from hip surgery, had been widely expected to retire.
"The time was right for me ... I had already delayed retirement twice," Scheele told Reuters in an interview. "The timing inside the company is good as well because we have got the next generation of management in place."
The British-born executive oversaw the painful restructuring program Ford launched in 2002, when the automaker cut 35,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force. Ford also announced plans to kill off four low-profit vehicles and close about seven North American plants.
"In the last three years I have helped get us back to a position which was difficult to envision some three years ago," said Scheele.
Ford had net income of $495 million last year after losses of $5.45 billion in 2001 and $980 million in 2002 following the expensive Firestone tire recall, which U.S. safety regulators have linked to about 270 deaths, many in rollover accidents involving Ford's Explorer SUV.
Through September of this year, Ford earned $3.38 billion. But the automaker has been losing U.S. market share to Asian and domestic rivals this year, with sales of its cars and trucks down 5 percent year-to-date.
"The challenge ahead (for Ford) is how to be profitable in a time with very large excess capacity in the industry," said analyst Dave Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research. "It's going to be a very difficult era to be profitable."
Scheele, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for helping turn around Ford's Jaguar division in the 1990s, missed work for two months this fall during his recovery from hip replacement surgery.
His tenure at Ford was not without controversies. He ran into problems last year for ordering consolidation of the company's multibillion-dollar advertising budget with WPP Group PLC (London:WPP.L - News), led by his friend Martin Sorrell. Ford later reversed that decision.
Gilmour, also a Ford veteran, was coaxed out of retirement in 2002, and took over as chief financial officer to help launch the company's turnaround plan. Last year, Ford controller Don Leclair took over as CFO, while Gilmour stayed on to oversee long-term strategic issues such as health care.
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