Ford's Alan Mulally: The Man To Watch in 2007
January 09, 2007

Former Boeing executive Alan Mulally has kept a relatively low profile since taking over as president and CEO of Ford Motor Co. last October. But he will be very much in the news during 2007.

In a letter to employees in a company publication, Mulally says he's been spending his time so far reviewing the automaker's existing plans, meeting with employees and conducting weekly business plan reviews with senior leadership. The sessions prohibit the use of Blackberries, require reams of substantiating data and — most importantly — force senior management to be accountable.

Mulally's emergence into the public spotlight might well occur at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. He already has given the press plenty to speculate about after reports from Japan indicate that Mulally and Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, met with Toyota Motor Chairman Fujio Cho. The press speculated about a possible global alliance or perhaps a simple collaboration on development of hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

Who will stay and who will go?
What will surely provide further fodder for the press in the coming months is who will stay at Ford and who will go, as Mulally builds his corporate team and institutes his own plan.

Thus far, Mulally has followed the Way Forward plan laid out at Ford before his arrival. He's made few executive changes, though a number of execs have resigned or retired. He did recently create a position of group vice president of product development for the Americas and assigned Derrick Kuzak to the post. The move was similar to that made by General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner when he hired Bob Lutz as vice chairman for product development.

But as Maryanne Keller, auto consultant and former Wall Street auto analyst, has been quoted as saying: "The really fundamental problem at Ford is lack of leadership, not only at the top but down in middle management."

To that end, some outsiders have called for the heads of some of Ford's top executives.

What will happen to Mark Fields?
Among them is Mark Fields, formerly the company's leading figure. In a scathing editorial in a recent issue of trade journal Automotive News, William Jeanes, an elder statesman of automotive journalism and former editor of Car and Driver magazine, took Fields to task for his lack of leadership and commitment.

Indeed, Fields is an enigma. Some suggest he showed great leadership at Mazda, which has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround, though it is often hard to find who truly deserves the credit. Others think Fields is too slick and is nothing more than an empty suit.

What really rankles those in the know is that Fields isn't here in Detroit. He lives in Florida. As part of his contract, he boards the corporate jet every Friday afternoon to go home to Florida. The crew waits for him and delivers him back to Dearborn for the start of the work week. A Detroit TV station reported the estimated cost to Ford to be anywhere from $1 million to $3 million a year. At a time when employees face layoffs, plant closings and buyout offers, such expenses seem self-indulgent at best.

Who else is on the list?
Another vulnerable Ford executive could be J Mays, Ford's chief design officer who is located in Europe now, not Detroit. Mays held great promise when he joined Ford, a promise that many feel has been unfulfilled. Ford still is bashed for bland styling.

Mays admits a design resurrection has taken longer than he wanted. He points to the fact, however, that he has now hired some of the greatest design chiefs in the business, stealing some away from competitors. But word inside the company is that these high-powered designers are fighting among themselves. Lower-level designers with good ideas complain egomaniacal bosses are holding them down.

And then there are the many whispers — no one dares say anything aloud — about Ford heiress Elena Ford, cousin to Ford Chairman Bill Ford. Two years ago, Elena Ford, 39, was promoted to the critical post of Ford's director of North America product marketing, planning and strategy. She previously was in charge of turning around the Mercury brand, which still remains troubled. Many insiders question her capabilities, but criticism is muted because she's the first female member of the Ford family to work directly for the company her great-great grandfather founded 103 years ago.

Analysts who have followed Mulally's career at Boeing say he's got the right stuff to turn Ford around and to make the gutsy moves required. We'll see when he takes center stage in 2007.

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