Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
The years 2008-2009 were one of the worst depressions in the history of automobiles. The crisis was part of the global economic downturn which also affected the automakers of America, Europe and Asia.
But Ford Motors was the company which was riding on the recession. The company was also the only manufacturer from the ‘Big three’ (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford) to avoid the bailout package of the government.
This happened under the leadership of CEO Alan Mulally, who not only helped the company to regain its lost position in the market but also returned it to profitability.
Alan Mulally’s achievements were incredible at Ford and were even recorded in a book dedicated to his triumphs.
Since joining the Ford Motors in September 2006, Mulally went on a crusade to transform the company into one of the leading and money spinning automakers of the world.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Managing Ford
Alan Mulally succeeded William Clay Ford Junior aka Bill Ford, the great grandson of founder Henry Ford. Bill recruited Mulally from Boeing Commercial Airplanes in 2006. William Clay still serves as the executive chairman of the Board of Directors.
On joining Ford Motors, Alan Mulally’s first crucial decision was to revive the Taurus nameplate which was made non-operational when it started backsliding in the late 1990s.
Taurus has been one of the bestselling cars from Ford’ stable and is currently in its sixth generation.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Secondly, he took control of ‘The Way Forward’ restructuring plan to improve its enormous losses and deteriorating market shares. Moreover, the net profits to shareholders were also suspended.
His cost-cutting strategies led the company to return first profitable quarter in just two years of time.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Thirdly in 2006, he managed to arrange $23.6 billion by mortgaging all the assets of the company. His intention was to use this money in order to renovate the company and to provide a covering to protect it from declining or some other unexpected event.
At that time, this was termed as a sign of worry but today is widely acknowledged as the major decision taken for stabilising the financial position of the company.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Fourthly, he moved on to sale the Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Indian auto manufacturer Tata Motors and accumulated $ 2.3 billion from it.
This decision was one of the finest decisions he made because in 2008, Jaguar Land Rover sales faced steep downfall and as a result Tata Motors requested a bailout package from the British government.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
He also sold off Aston Martin and Volvo brands and ultimately reduced company’s shares in Mazda.
In the midst of economic slump of 2008, Ford announced to cut his salary to $1 per year which he was later compensated in the form of base salary of $ 2 million and stock and option awards of worth $ 1,849241 and $8,666,747 respectively.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Achievements, Awards and Honors
Alan Mulally was a man with the mission. He took Ford to new heights in eight years of time.
Under his leadership, company introduced One Ford plan which in turn achieve company 19 profitable quarters in a row.
He also negotiated four new agreements with United Auto Workers, the labour union in America. The agreement brought down labour costs from $76/hour to $55/hour.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Due to his incredible achievements at Ford, he was inducted in the ‘2009 Time 100’ list. In 2011, he was honoured with ‘Person of the Year’ by Financial Times and also in the same year bestowed with the honour of ‘2011 CEO of the Year’ award by Chief Executive magazine.
He was also granted the honorary degree of Doctorate by University of Kansas for his remarkable contribution to industries of engineering and transportation.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Alan Mulally will be retiring this year on 1st July and Ford Motors has officially announced that Mark Fields, the current Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be the next CEO of the company.
Mark has worked extensively for over 25 years in the company giving his service in the field of production development, marketing, purchasing, manufacturing, sales and service.
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A CEO whom all auto companies wish they had
Photographs: Courtesy, Ford
Mark Fields has also helped the company on several occasions to earn profit from record loss of several years.
Ford Motors successfully regained its lost position over the years across the world and especially as an American icon. Ford Chairman William Clay Ford once said that Alan Mulally was the right choice he made and it gets more right every day.
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