Brent Snavely

Detroit Free Press

Ford confirmed Monday that Jim Hackett will become the automaker's new CEO in a wide-ranging reshuffling of the company's top management, bringing the tenure of CEO Mark Fields to an abrupt end after just under three years.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford praised the tenure and achievements of Fields, but then pivoted and said the automaker needs to make decisions faster, break down its hierarchical structures and communicate its strategy more clearly to the public.

"Mark had a tremendous career at Ford and did great things, starting with the Way Forward plan in North America (in 2005), that was a huge building block," Ford said. "But this is a time of unprecedented change."

[Who is Jim Hackett? Click to read about his business achievements across Michigan]

Ford's decision to change courses after three years with Fields as CEO comes amid pressure from shareholders to improve the company's stock price. Ford's stock price has declined 40% since Fields became CEO even though the company has been extremely profitable.

Hackett, Ford said, "Will continue to transform the culture of Ford Motor Co."

As of 10:19 a.m. Monday, Ford's stock price rose 13 cents, or 1.2%, to $11.02 in morning trading.

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Hackett, 62, has a long track record of innovation as CEO of Steelcase and as interim athletic director at the University of Michigan, where he is credited with sealing the deal to hire Jim Harbaugh as head coach of the football team. He also has developed a close relationship with Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford as a member of Ford's board of directors and as chairman of Ford Smart Mobility.

For his part, Hackett said he hopes to foster an environment of teamwork at Ford and a structure that is better able to take on challenging issues, such as the coming revolution of the auto industry from autonomous vehicles.

"What I want to help impact is where we are going," Hackett said. "I want to see us differentiate ourselves."

Ford also made a number of other changes to its management lineup. The changes set up a structure with three top executives with expansive portfolios that will report to Hackett: They are:

Jim Farley, president of Europe, will become executive vice president, global markets. Farley will oversee Ford’s regional divisions, including the Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. He also will oversee Lincoln Motor Company and global marketing.

Joe Hinrichs, president of the Americas will, is appointed executive vice president and president, global operations. Hinrichs, previously president of the Americas, to a broader global role that encompasses product development, manufacturing, labor affairs, quality, purchasing and sustainabilit

Marcy Klevorn is appointed executive vice president and president, Mobility

Mark Truby is appointed vice president, communications, and elected a company officer. He succeeds Ray Day, who plans to retire from the company next year and will provide consulting services until then.

Paul Ballew is appointed vice president and Chief Data and Analytics Officer.

Several other executives, including CFO Bob Shanks, will also report to Hackett. However, Hackett said he has asked Bill Ford to lead both government relations and communications.

Fields, 56, proved himself in the early 2000s by engineering the turnaround of Mazda, then a company that was controlled by Ford. Over his 28-year career Fields held a number of titles with increasing responsibility and emerged as the heir apparent to former CEO Alan Mulally several years before he retired.

Mulally, a former Boeing executive that came to Ford in September 2006 when the automaker was sputtering. Mulally led the automaker through the Great Recession without resorting to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Fields, as president of the Americas in the late 2000s, was the second highest-ranking Ford executive and learned from Mulally.

“Mark Fields was given the nearly impossible task of making the utterly conventional auto manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, into a high-tech information-style company with share values to match," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editor and market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "Despite turning in credible profits, Fields was unable to turn Ford into a stock market darling, and that may well prove elusive going forward.”

Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrentSnavely.