Ford President to step down
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Ford President to step down
I don't know if this is a good or bad thing but here it is.
Ford president to step down
Jim Padilla will retire in July; chairman and CEO Bill Ford to take over responsibilities.
April 6, 2006: 10:23 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that the company's second-highest ranking executive was retiring, the latest in a series of management changes linked to the automaker's bid to slash costs and return to profitability in its biggest market.
Jim Padilla, 59, will retire as president and chief operating officer, effective July 1, the company said in a statement.
Padilla, who made his mark in a 40-year career at Ford (Research) as a manufacturing specialist, will not be replaced, giving Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford a more direct role in the management of the company his great-grandfather founded.
The move also marks an advance for Mark Fields, who heads Ford's North American operations and has spearheaded the company's turnaround efforts, including plans to cut 30,000 jobs and shutter 14 production plants.
Padilla's responsibilities will be assumed by a new executive committee headed by Ford and including Fields, and Anne Stevens, Ford's chief operating officer for the Americas.
"Padilla is a very able (executive), but he is also the old guard," said Burnham Securities analyst David Healy. "Padilla is out because Ford wants his own people. That's my view."
Padilla will not to stand for reelection to the company's board of directors at the annual meeting in May, Ford said.
By leaving the chief operating officer position unfilled, Ford cleared the way for a potential promotion for Fields if the company's planned restructuring delivers results.
Fields, 45, previously lead a turnaround at Ford affiliate Mazda Motor Co. and has headed the company's European and luxury units.
"I think Mark Fields will eventually be COO, but it's possible they might still bring in someone from outside the company," Healy said.
Fields has won praise from dealers for paying closer attention to their views on what is needed to reverse a slide in market share driven by slower sales of profitable sport utility vehicles.
"We like what we're hearing. We haven't always agreed with (management) the way we are agreeing now," said Beau Boeckmann, vice president of Los Angeles-based Galpin Ford, the No. 1 Ford dealership.
Other members of Ford's newly created executive committee include Mark Schulz, president, international operations; Lewis Booth, executive vice president, Ford of Europe and premier automotive group; and Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair.
Schulz and Fields, who had previously reported to Padilla, will now report directly to Ford, the company said.
"We have the right team for the job at hand and it is time for me to allow them to grow even further and transition into the new roles that await them," Padilla said in a statement.
Ford said Wednesday the Detroit auto industry was in a "precarious" situation, but said he did not see bankruptcy as a risk for the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Strong competition, soaring health care and raw material costs, and a slide in U.S. market share forced Ford to announce a second restructuring for its North American operations in four years.
Saddled with a junk debt rating and facing a sharp drop in U.S. market share, Ford's restructuring plan, dubbed "Way Forward," is designed to reverse a $1.6 billion loss last year in its North American operations.
Shares of Ford closed up 8 cents at $7.65 on the New York Stock Exchange, near a three-year low set last month.
Padilla's retirement was the most recent in a string of executive departures at Ford, which has been trimming the ranks of its corporate officers.
Others who have recently left Ford include former Vice Chairman Greg Smith and veteran sales and marketing executive Steve Lyons and Chief Information Officer Marv Adams.
Cross-town rival General Motors Corp. (Research), facing similar challenges as Ford, said this week it had reached a deal to sell a majority stake of its finance arm.
Jim Padilla will retire in July; chairman and CEO Bill Ford to take over responsibilities.
April 6, 2006: 10:23 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that the company's second-highest ranking executive was retiring, the latest in a series of management changes linked to the automaker's bid to slash costs and return to profitability in its biggest market.
Jim Padilla, 59, will retire as president and chief operating officer, effective July 1, the company said in a statement.
Padilla, who made his mark in a 40-year career at Ford (Research) as a manufacturing specialist, will not be replaced, giving Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford a more direct role in the management of the company his great-grandfather founded.
The move also marks an advance for Mark Fields, who heads Ford's North American operations and has spearheaded the company's turnaround efforts, including plans to cut 30,000 jobs and shutter 14 production plants.
Padilla's responsibilities will be assumed by a new executive committee headed by Ford and including Fields, and Anne Stevens, Ford's chief operating officer for the Americas.
"Padilla is a very able (executive), but he is also the old guard," said Burnham Securities analyst David Healy. "Padilla is out because Ford wants his own people. That's my view."
Padilla will not to stand for reelection to the company's board of directors at the annual meeting in May, Ford said.
By leaving the chief operating officer position unfilled, Ford cleared the way for a potential promotion for Fields if the company's planned restructuring delivers results.
Fields, 45, previously lead a turnaround at Ford affiliate Mazda Motor Co. and has headed the company's European and luxury units.
"I think Mark Fields will eventually be COO, but it's possible they might still bring in someone from outside the company," Healy said.
Fields has won praise from dealers for paying closer attention to their views on what is needed to reverse a slide in market share driven by slower sales of profitable sport utility vehicles.
"We like what we're hearing. We haven't always agreed with (management) the way we are agreeing now," said Beau Boeckmann, vice president of Los Angeles-based Galpin Ford, the No. 1 Ford dealership.
Other members of Ford's newly created executive committee include Mark Schulz, president, international operations; Lewis Booth, executive vice president, Ford of Europe and premier automotive group; and Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair.
Schulz and Fields, who had previously reported to Padilla, will now report directly to Ford, the company said.
"We have the right team for the job at hand and it is time for me to allow them to grow even further and transition into the new roles that await them," Padilla said in a statement.
Ford said Wednesday the Detroit auto industry was in a "precarious" situation, but said he did not see bankruptcy as a risk for the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Strong competition, soaring health care and raw material costs, and a slide in U.S. market share forced Ford to announce a second restructuring for its North American operations in four years.
Saddled with a junk debt rating and facing a sharp drop in U.S. market share, Ford's restructuring plan, dubbed "Way Forward," is designed to reverse a $1.6 billion loss last year in its North American operations.
Shares of Ford closed up 8 cents at $7.65 on the New York Stock Exchange, near a three-year low set last month.
Padilla's retirement was the most recent in a string of executive departures at Ford, which has been trimming the ranks of its corporate officers.
Others who have recently left Ford include former Vice Chairman Greg Smith and veteran sales and marketing executive Steve Lyons and Chief Information Officer Marv Adams.
Cross-town rival General Motors Corp. (Research), facing similar challenges as Ford, said this week it had reached a deal to sell a majority stake of its finance arm.
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Re: Ford President to step down
Padilla is President of Ford North America, but also essentially RUNS Ford's global operations! If Ford were a mafia, Bill Ford would be the "Don" and Padilla would be the guy who gets his hands dirty. Take GM's entire top level global executives, remove just Bob Lutz, and you pretty much have an idea of how powerful Padilla is. 
If I'm not mistaken, Bill Ford either dragged Padilla out of retirement or refused to let him retire a few years ago to fix Nasser's mess. I read Padilla leaving Ford as Bill Ford being more comfortable and knowledgeable enough with the company's operations that he's taking on more, while also feeling more confident that Mark Fields is going to do well.
Padilla is a top notch "operations" person and an economics guy (his master's). He's also been in alot of stuff that would amaze you, including a White House council, member of Department of Commerence council, not to mention something of a trouble shooter at Ford who's worked in pretty every position from quality control to running Ford's South America operations, to enforcing the "Quality is Job One" manufacturing effort. Despite being essentially a high level hatchet man, people who work for him despite his high standards, seem to love him. I know the post-Nasser Ford dealers love him. Alot.
Jim Padilla is probally the only person IMHO in the entire auto industry who could genuinely fix GM, but he's the only person I can think of in any business who has the potential to replace Rick Wagoner as CEO at General Motors without GM completely disintegrating.
Wagoner is easily the only person able to hold GM together long enough for it to improve. But IMHO, Padilla in the same position has the background in all areas of manufacturing, marketing, cost cutting, and especially quality standards & an all round hatchet man to actually make GM improve quicker than it currently seems able to....alot quicker
If I'm not mistaken, Bill Ford either dragged Padilla out of retirement or refused to let him retire a few years ago to fix Nasser's mess. I read Padilla leaving Ford as Bill Ford being more comfortable and knowledgeable enough with the company's operations that he's taking on more, while also feeling more confident that Mark Fields is going to do well.
Padilla is a top notch "operations" person and an economics guy (his master's). He's also been in alot of stuff that would amaze you, including a White House council, member of Department of Commerence council, not to mention something of a trouble shooter at Ford who's worked in pretty every position from quality control to running Ford's South America operations, to enforcing the "Quality is Job One" manufacturing effort. Despite being essentially a high level hatchet man, people who work for him despite his high standards, seem to love him. I know the post-Nasser Ford dealers love him. Alot.
Jim Padilla is probally the only person IMHO in the entire auto industry who could genuinely fix GM, but he's the only person I can think of in any business who has the potential to replace Rick Wagoner as CEO at General Motors without GM completely disintegrating.
Wagoner is easily the only person able to hold GM together long enough for it to improve. But IMHO, Padilla in the same position has the background in all areas of manufacturing, marketing, cost cutting, and especially quality standards & an all round hatchet man to actually make GM improve quicker than it currently seems able to....alot quicker
Last edited by guionM; Apr 7, 2006 at 01:17 PM.
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From: Pewee Valley, KY
Re: Ford President to step down
Originally Posted by guionM
Padilla is President of Ford North America, but also essentially RUNS Ford's global operations! If Ford were a mafia, Bill Ford would be the "Don" and Padilla would be the guy who gets his hands dirty. Take GM's entire top level global executives, remove just Bob Lutz, and you pretty much have an idea of how powerful Padilla is.
If I'm not mistaken, Bill Ford either dragged Padilla out of retirement or refused to let him retire a few years ago to fix Nasser's mess. I read Padilla leaving Ford as Bill Ford being more comfortable and knowledgeable enough with the company's operations that he's taking on more, while also feeling more confident that Mark Fields is going to do well.
Padilla is a top notch "operations" person and an economics guy (his master's). He's also been in alot of stuff that would amaze you, including a White House council, member of Department of Commerence council, not to mention something of a trouble shooter at Ford who's worked in pretty every position from quality control to running Ford's South America operations, to enforcing the "Quality is Job One" manufacturing effort. Despite being essentially a high level hatchet man, people who work for him despite his high standards, seem to love him. I know the post-Nasser Ford dealers love him. Alot.
Jim Padilla is probally the only person IMHO in the entire auto industry who could genuinely fix GM, but he's the only person I can think of in any business who has the potential to replace Rick Wagoner as CEO at General Motors without GM completely disintegrating.
Wagoner is easily the only person able to hold GM together long enough for it to improve. But IMHO, Padilla in the same position has the background in all areas of manufacturing, marketing, cost cutting, and especially quality standards & an all round hatchet man to actually make GM improve quicker than it currently seems able to....alot quicker
If I'm not mistaken, Bill Ford either dragged Padilla out of retirement or refused to let him retire a few years ago to fix Nasser's mess. I read Padilla leaving Ford as Bill Ford being more comfortable and knowledgeable enough with the company's operations that he's taking on more, while also feeling more confident that Mark Fields is going to do well.
Padilla is a top notch "operations" person and an economics guy (his master's). He's also been in alot of stuff that would amaze you, including a White House council, member of Department of Commerence council, not to mention something of a trouble shooter at Ford who's worked in pretty every position from quality control to running Ford's South America operations, to enforcing the "Quality is Job One" manufacturing effort. Despite being essentially a high level hatchet man, people who work for him despite his high standards, seem to love him. I know the post-Nasser Ford dealers love him. Alot.
Jim Padilla is probally the only person IMHO in the entire auto industry who could genuinely fix GM, but he's the only person I can think of in any business who has the potential to replace Rick Wagoner as CEO at General Motors without GM completely disintegrating.
Wagoner is easily the only person able to hold GM together long enough for it to improve. But IMHO, Padilla in the same position has the background in all areas of manufacturing, marketing, cost cutting, and especially quality standards & an all round hatchet man to actually make GM improve quicker than it currently seems able to....alot quicker
How old is he?
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 13,713
From: The Golden State
Re: Ford President to step down
Originally Posted by 91_z28_4me
Could GM make a move to grab him like they did Lutz?
How old is he?
How old is he?
Wagoner turned 53 and Lutz 74 in February.
(Wagoner's the 9th and Lutz is the 12 if you want to send cards next year
)Couple of other things about the Padilla (just finished looking him up... had some free time).
1. He turned around Jaguar after Ford bought it in the early 90s.
2. He restructured Ford's South American operations in the late 90s.
3. Executed Ford's Post-Nasser 2002 restructuring that elminated 10% of Ford's workforce.
4. Responsible for launching Fords "Luxury Performance" cars from the Aston Martin DB7 to the Lincoln LS, including that the V8 engine that Ford and Jaguar share (which has a world class reputation, and top drawer durability).
4. He mentored a slew of current Ford execs, including Mark Fields & Anne Stevens, Ford's chief Operations officer.
5. He makes it a point to meet with a different group of employees every week. He's also been known to turn a wrench on an assembly line and crawl inside a vehicle to personally check out a manufacturing issue.
IMO, the only way James Padilla would do GM any good is as CEO. Anything else would be a waste of talent.
Consider that Bob Lutz has also run Chrysler's day to day operations, not to mention their big design and profit turn around in the 90s after brushing with going bankrupt. Lutz has also previously worked for almost every auto manufacturer from Ford to BMW, knows the auto industry and products better than Microsoft knows computers, but yet is only just now after 4 years on the job, begining to have the freedom to fully implement changes to bring cars to market without the usual GM BS... and he's a vice-Chairman!
Last edited by guionM; Apr 7, 2006 at 02:03 PM.
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