[Paul Selby]

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. announced Tuesday that Bill Ford is stepping down as chief executive but will remain chairman of the troubled automaker.

Alan Mulally, previously executive vice president of Boeing Co. and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has been named president and CEO at Ford.

link edited by staff
http://www.blueovalnews.com/index.php?cate...2_articleid=369

[one2gamble]

wow...

[BleedinOvalBlue]

are you shittin me?

[g48150]

If I was ANYONE in Product Development, I'd be updating my resume if I were you. This guy didn't used to build cars, he built mil/aero products, like I used to build tanks. And you're 100% wrong Rich, Tanks are WAY harder to build than cars, have you ever heard of Mil-Spec and Defense Acquisition practices? I thought not...

Good Old Boys Network --> :rip:

Its all over now, Change or Die, they took the Change...

The Chinese can't compete with competent systems design, look for a different "GPDS" around the next 12-18 months.

This is akin to HFII taking the Whiz Kids in post-WWII. This is the "Army of One" I keep talking about...

Five years from now, Ford WILL be the #1 engineering place to be once again, thank god I'm getting out now!!! I can't wait to come back!!!

In the meantime, yeah, anyone with engineer in their title, or a direct supervisor of anyone with engineer in their title, yeah, get out now, cause white collar separation is a bitch...

[inteller]

well well well, now is a good time to own Ford stock. I think I'll buy 5000 more shares tomorrow.

Lincoln and Mercury, your days are numbered now!

RIP Badge Engineering!

[robertlane]

Quote

Mulally holds bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Kansas, and earned a master’s in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Good move, Bill. Let's get some engineers running the show :happy feet:

[focus05]

I think this is a good outsider to bring in. It's not like they scoured the financial industry and brought in someone who has run hedge funds. Airplane development is HUGELY complex, expensive and aggressive with millions of parts and often thousands of suppliers. Coordinating the engineering and, more importantly, the BUSINESS of developing supplier relationships, product specifications and predicting future market trends is a massive job. What all the nay-sayers about the new guy fail to mention when they talk about the "generous" 6 to 7 year lead times of airplane development is that if you screw up - you're screwed; making it a high-pressure product environment. You don't just try to match your competition - you try to cream them (see the 787). Bringing that kind of experience in might be key to making sure product development at Ford continues in the style of the Fusion and Edge. And ultimately, it will be that kind of product development that saves Ford.

Although I have no doubt that it will be difficult for him to convince industry hard-liners and old school auto workers that he is the right man, I believe that only an outside perspective will be a "bold" enough move to save this company. Quality products, controlled costs. I think he can deliver both.

[matthewq4b]

This is nothing but good news. I do not think there is a better person to head up Ford right now.
After the turn around Alan generated at Boeing and the lessons and the took from the Peterson Days at Ford.
This can only be good news.

Glad to see Bill was smart ehough to realize that he alone did not have the stuff to move Ford in the direction it needs to go. Takes a big man to realize he does not have the skills to do it, and requires out side help. Obviuosly Ford's prosperity is important enough to Bill that he will do what it takes to achieve it, even if it means stepping down from being the top dog and turning the reins over to some one else. I see nothign but good times ahead after the transition period.

We seen what you could do at Boeing Allan, lets see the same or better performance at Ford.

Now maybe we can see some more of Billy on the tube to counter some of those goofy Dr Z ads.


Matthew

[Shoman594]

wow....x2


I am glad Bill will stay active, I have always liked him.

[lil nasty]

WOW HOPE THIS GUY CAN HELP US OUT HE DID FOR BOEING HOPEFULLY US TOO :shrug:

[Traveler]

And we thought the F-150 was too big now...wait until the ex-Boeing man gets his hands on it. The 2009 F-150 Jumbo Cab!

[MGallun]

Traveler, on Sep 5 2006, 06:25 PM, said:

And we thought the F-150 was too big now...wait until the ex-Boeing man gets his hands on it. The 2009 F-150 Jumbo Cab!

lol, with deployable wings and shiznit! :bandance:

[wildosvt]

lil nasty, on Sep 5 2006, 07:16 PM, said:

WOW HOPE THIS GUY CAN HELP US OUT HE DID FOR BOEING HOPEFULLY US TOO :shrug:

Yeah, He helped Boeing outsource all of its work minus final assy. To China etc...

[dr511scj]

Will Mulally get "Bunkied" by Mark Fields's people?
Is he just a place holder while "Waiting for Ghosn?"


See advice for Mulally on the blog http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2006/09/ala...rd-at-ford.html

[one2gamble]

that blog is almost pointless....

[ebritt]

Like I said before , Bill Jr. needs to go back to the golf course and leave the business to the big boys. He could run the museum maybe, you know give interviews etc. etc.

[Nels Nelson]

dr511scj, on Sep 5 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

Will Mulally get "Bunkied" by Mark Fields's people?
Is he just a place holder while "Waiting for Ghosn?"
See advice for Mulally on the blog http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2006/09/ala...rd-at-ford.html

Good Doctor:

Methinks you're the Speedzzter.

The Walkabout gave you away.

Good advice though and you have a knowledge of Ford much greater and deeper than most here.

If I'm wrong, nevermind.

[RichardJensen]

dr511scj, on Sep 5 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

Will Mulally get "Bunkied" by Mark Fields's people?
Is he just a place holder while "Waiting for Ghosn?"
See advice for Mulally on the blog http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2006/09/ala...rd-at-ford.html

Nice advice. Loved the advice to spend two days visiting dealerships every week.

I'm sure, what with his CEO type duties, his schedule will be wide open for the kind of deep meaningful insights that come from hearing "well, my car was due for the 15,000 mile maintenance, and so here I am. I wish it wasn't so expensive, since the warranty requires it. At least this place has cookies while I wait to pick the car up, and nice coffee. I hear they don't let the sales reps drink this coffee, at least that's what a guy told me. So what's your car here for? Oh, the CEO. Listen, I really wanna give kudos to Stan, the sales rep over there--did a stand up job selling me this car. If anyone deserves a pat on tha back it's him."

All in all, our blogger has assigned 2 days per week to visiting Ford dealerships, a day a week on the shop floors, a day a week with the engineers, and most weekends at Ford events. Gee. So what two days a week does Mr. Mulally do his CEO work? Oh, that's right, being a CEO is not demanding at all. Because they don't actually do the legwork that keeps the company running, their job could be compressed into a pair of 8-hour workdays, and the rest of the time can be spent 'keeping it 'real'.

This post has been edited by RichardJensen: 05 September 2006 - 08:53 PM

[Bluecon]

Bill junior needs to respected and thanked for making this move.

It shows a lot of guts, pretty difficult when you are in the limelight and under the microscope of the public, because your last name is Ford. It shows he puts the long term interest of the company ahead of his ego. Bravo!

This post has been edited by Bluecon: 05 September 2006 - 09:36 PM

[RichardJensen]

Bluecon, on Sep 6 2006, 02:29 AM, said:

Bill junior needs to respected and thanked for making this move.

It shows a lot of guts, pretty difficult when you are in the limelight and under the microscope of the public, because your last name is Ford. It shows he puts the long term interest of the company ahead of his ego. Bravo!

The best show of respect from you, and others on the board that have pushed criticism of Bill Ford past all sense, would be an acknowledgement that this move is characteristic of the man.