CHICAGO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Ford Motor Company Monday named Jim Hackett as its new president and CEO to succeed Mark Fields. The nomination will become effective on June 1.
With a record of innovation and business success as CEO of Steelcase, and executive chairman of Ford Smart Mobility LLC since March 2016, 62-year-old Hackett will lead Ford's worldwide operations and 292,999 employees globally. He will report to Executive Chairman Bill Ford.
"We need to re-energize our business and sharpen our execution," Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said in an interview with the Detroit News.
"The good news is we have the financial resources and the talent to get it done. But what we needed is a transformative leader who has done it before, and who not only has the vision, but also knows how to get the organization to move toward that vision," Ford said.
"Jim has done this before. And he's done it at an industrial company. And he's done it at a company where he redefined it from what it was to what it could become. Jim will bring speed of decision-making. The world in which we are operating in today is very different from even three years ago," he added.
Hackett, together with Bill Ford, will focus on three priorities: sharpening operational execution, modernizing Ford' s present business and transforming the company to meet tomorrow's challenges, according to a statement posted on Ford's website.
The U.S. automaker announced last week to cut 10 percent of salaried costs and personnel levels in North America and Asia Pacific this year, in an effort to reduce costs, enliven stock performance and boost profits.
