Ford To Name Mark Fields COO, Possible Mulally Successor

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

September 11, 2012

Bloomberg is reporting that Ford will announce Mark Fields as its new Chief Operating Officer, putting him right behind CEO Alan Mulally in the chain of command.

Until now, Ford has not had a COO under Mulally. This has led many to speculate that this promotion will clearly put Fields in line to be the successor for CEO.

Rumors of someone replacing Mulally as CEO have been swirling for months. Although Mulally, 67, says he has no plans to step down anytime soon, it's widely believed that Ford is preparing for new leadership behind the scenes.

“We do not comment on speculation about personnel actions. Regarding succession, Ford Motor Co. takes succession planning very seriously, and we have succession plans in place for each of our key leadership positions,” said Ray Day, a Ford spokesman in an e-mail.

Fields isn't the only one being considered for the CEO position. Joe Hinrichs, head of Ford's Asia operations, and Jim Farley, Ford's sales and marketing head are also under consideration. The two are also being looked at for President of the Americas.

Source: Bloomberg

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.