Ford Motor’s Chief Executive Alan Mulally, who’s credited with steering the automaker’s turnaround, has won an endorsement for an indefinite tenure from the company’s chairman and the founding family’s senior representative. “I want Alan to stay as long as he would like to stay and hopefully that is quite a while,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. told Reuters. Bill Ford’s comments marked the first time he had addressed Mulally’s stewardship as chief executive since rivals General Motors and Chrysler Group emerged from U.S.-government sponsored bankruptcy protection with new ownership and management. Mulally, 64, joined Ford in September 2006 after being recruited by Bill Ford Jr., who stepped aside as CEO to hire him away from Boeing where he was head of its commercial airplanes business. The automaker was in a precarious position and widely seen as the weakest of the three Detroit car companies when Ford hired Mulally to revive a turnaround effort that had failed to take hold. An auto industry outsider then, Mulally is now the longest-serving CEO among the U.S. automakers. GM’s Rick Wagoner, Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli and Mulally all testified to the U.S. Congress for an industry bailout less than a year ago. Wagoner was forced out by the Obama administration. Nardelli resigned from Chrysler in June.
Ford CEO Receives Family Head’s Backing
Ford hired Mulally to revive a turnaround effort that had failed to take hold. An auto industry outsider then, Mulally is now the longest-serving CEO among the U.S. automakers.