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Ford President, CEO Jim Hackett to retire in October

Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett will retire at the start of October after three years in the post, the automaker said Tuesday. File Photo by Maize & Blue Nation/Wikimedia Commons
Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett will retire at the start of October after three years in the post, the automaker said Tuesday. File Photo by Maize & Blue Nation/Wikimedia Commons

Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett, who has led the company since 2017, will retire this fall and be succeeded in the posts by Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley, the automaker announced Tuesday.

The moves will become effective on Oct. 1, Ford said in a statement.

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Hackett, 65, and Farley, 58, will work together on "a smooth leadership transition" over the next two months, said Executive Chairman William Clay Ford Jr., the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford.

"I am very grateful to Jim Hackett for all he has done to modernize Ford and prepare us to compete and win in the future," Ford said, noting the introduction this month of the all-electric Mustang Mach-E.

"My goal when I took on the CEO role was to prepare Ford to win in the future," Hackett said. "The hardest thing for a proud, long-lived company to do is change to meet the challenges of the world it's entering rather than the world it has known.

"I'm very proud of how far we have come in creating a modern Ford and I am very optimistic about the future."

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"I love Ford and I am honored by the opportunity to serve and create value for Ford's employees, customers, dealers, communities and all of our stakeholders," added Farley.

The automaker's stock value mostly fell under Hackett's leadership and it reported losses of nearly $4 billion in the first two quarters of 2020 as it coped with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farley joined Ford in 2007 as head of global marketing and sales and later lead its Lincoln, Ford South America and Ford of Europe divisions. Last year, he was appointed to lead Ford's strategic efforts to leverage emerging automotive trends.

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