Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that it is replacing its CEO, Mark Fields, with an executive who has been leading the automaker’s self-driving car effort.
Jim Hackett, 62, will take the helm of Ford as president and CEO beginning this week. Hackett is head of the company’s autonomous vehicle unit and previously served as CEO of Steelcase and as an interim athletic director at the University of Michigan.
“We’re moving from a position of strength to transform Ford for the future,” said executive chairman Bill Ford in a statement.
“Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space. He’s a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business.”
{mosads}The major shakeup comes as the auto industry grapples with slowing car sales.
Fields, who was only on the job for three years, had been under fire for Ford’s declining stocks and for falling behind in the race to develop driverless cars.
Fields was also behind a cancelled manufacturing plant in Mexico, which was scrapped amid increasing pressure from President Trump.
“Mark Fields has been an outstanding leader and deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe at Ford,” Ford said. “His strong leadership was critical to our North American restructuring, our turnaround at the end of the last decade, and our record profits in the past two years.”