FDM Group Regulatory News (FDM)

6 Sep 2006 07:00

Ford Motor Co05 September 2006 Contact: Oscar Suris 313-594-1106 osuris@ford.com FORD NAMES BOEING'S ALAN MULALLY PRESIDENT & CEO; BILL FORD IS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN • Mulally led turnaround of the commercial airplane division of The Boeing Company. He has a record of success in manufacturing, product development, labor relations, supplier management and customer satisfaction. • Bill Ford, as executive chairman, will concentrate efforts on strategic repositioning of Ford Motor Company. DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 5 - Ford Motor Company announced today that it haselected Alan Mulally as president and chief executive officer. He has also beenelected to the Board of Directors. Bill Ford will continue his duties as executive chairman of the company. "One of the three strategic priorities that I've focused on this year is companyleadership. While I knew that we were fortunate to have outstanding leadersdriving our operations around the world, I also determined that our turnaroundeffort required the additional skills of an executive who has led a majormanufacturing enterprise through such challenges before," Bill Ford wrote in anemail to Ford employees today. "That's why I'm very pleased to announce that Alan Mulally, who turned aroundthe Commercial Airplanes division of The Boeing Company, will become ourpresident and CEO effective immediately. Alan has deep experience in customersatisfaction, manufacturing, supplier relations and labor relations, all ofwhich have applications to the challenges of Ford. He also has the personalityand team-building skills that will help guide our Company in the rightdirection." Bill Ford, who said he would remain "extremely active" in the business, praisedMulally as "an outstanding leader and a man of great character." He noted thatMulally had applied many of the lessons from Ford's success in developing theTaurus to Boeing's creation of the revolutionary Boeing 777 airliner. Thatexperience, chronicled in the book, "Working Together," by James P. Lewis, tellshow the leadership principles Mulally learned from Ford and developed at Boeingmay be applied to other businesses. "Clearly, the challenges Boeing faced in recent years have many parallels to ourown," Bill Ford said. Mulally, 61, has spent 37 years at The Boeing Company, most recently asexecutive vice president. In addition, he has also been president and chiefexecutive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes since 2001. In that position hewas responsible for all of the company's commercial airplane programs andrelated services, which in 2005 generated record orders for new business andsales of more than $22.6 billion. Mulally was named president of CommercialAirplanes in September 1998. The responsibility of chief executive officer forthe business unit was added in March 2001. "I think the opportunity to work with Bill Ford and Ford Motor Company is theonly thing that could have attracted me to a job other than Boeing, where I haveso many great friends and memories," Mulally said. "I'm looking forward toworking closely with Bill in the ongoing turnaround of this great Company. I'malso eager to begin engagement with the leadership team. I believe strongly inteamwork and I fully expect that our efforts will be a productivecollaboration." Mulally noted that many of the challenges he encountered in commercial airplanemanufacturing are analogous to the issues at Ford. "Just as I thought it was appropriate to apply lessons learned from Ford toBoeing, I believe the reverse is true as well," Mulally said. "I also recognizethat Ford has a strong foundation upon which we can build. The Company's longtradition of innovation, developing new markets, and creating iconic vehiclesthat represent customer values is a great advantage that we can leverage for ourfuture." Bill Ford said he expected Mulally would assist Mark Fields and the Way Forwardteam as they accelerate their business plan. "After dealing with the troubles at Boeing in the post-9/11 world, Alan knowswhat it's like to have your back to the wall - and fight your way out with awell-conceived plan and great execution," Bill Ford said in his note toemployees. "He also knows how to deal with long product cycles, changing fuelprices and difficult decisions in a turnaround." Prior to his current position, Mulally served as president of BoeingInformation, Space & Defense Systems and senior vice president of The BoeingCompany. Appointed to that role in February 1997, he was responsible forBoeing's defense, space and government business. Beginning in 1994, he was senior vice president of Airplane Development forBoeing Commercial Airplanes Group, responsible for all airplane developmentactivities, flight test operations, certification and government technicalliaison. Mulally serves as co-chair of the Washington Competitiveness Council, and sitson the advisory boards of NASA, the University of Washington, the University ofKansas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Air Force ScientificAdvisory Board. He is a member of the United States National Academy ofEngineering and a fellow of England's Royal Academy of Engineering. Mulally holds bachelor's and master's of science degrees in aeronautical andastronautical engineering from the University of Kansas, and earned a master'sin management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a 1982 Alfred P.Sloan fellow. A member of the board since 1988, Bill Ford, 49, was elected chairman inSeptember 1998, and took office on Jan. 1, 1999. He also serves as chairman ofthe board's Environmental and Public Policy Committee and as a member of theFinance Committee. He was named Chief Executive Officer on Oct. 30, 2001. Bill Ford, who led the Company to three straight years of profitability through2005, told employees in his email that he looked forward to an excellent workingpartnership with Mulally on global strategic issues. "Let me assure you: I'm not going anywhere," Bill Ford wrote to Ford workers."As executive chairman, I intend to remain extremely active in the direction ofthis Company. I'll be here every day and I will not rest until a prosperousfuture for this Company is secured." Sept. 5, 2006 Go to http://media.ford.com for news releases and high-resolution photographs. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange