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Old 07-21-2002, 10:54 AM   #1
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Post Kelley leaves Ford

Longtime Ford exec takes over Lincoln Mercury
From Automotive News

______________________________________
The exit Friday of Lincoln Mercury President Brian Kelley after only nine months on the job ends the career at Ford of another executive brought in during the Jacques Nasser era.

Kelley, 41, is leaving Ford to become president and CEO of SIRVA, a Chicago-based global moving, logistics and relocation firm with 7,000 employees and revenues of $2.2 billion in 2001.

He was replaced by Darryl Hazel, 53, a 30-year Ford executive who has headed Ford's Customer Service Division since January. Hazel began his career in 1972 as a Lincoln Mercury analyst.

A former Ford executive close to Kelley who declined to be identified said Kelley's departure had nothing to do with his ability to lead Lincoln Mercury or who hired him.

The executive said Kelley left because his authority was undermined when the Lincoln and Mercury brands were removed from the Premier Automotive Group in April and placed under the Ford umbrella.

While the brands were part of Premier Automotive Group, Kelley was responsible for product development, engineering and design. He also had responsibility for two plants.

"(Ford CEO) Bill Ford is smart enough to know that he can't broom people because of who hired them. Ford needs talent right now. The talent base is thin," the former executive said. "Brian Kelley is supremely talented. He is qualified for the job. He was learning, and he was willing to learn," he said.

Other departed Nasser-era executives include:
  • Wolfgang Reitzle, CEO of Premier Automotive Group. Reitzle quit in April to become CEO of Linde AG, a German producer of industrial gases. Reitzle reportedly left after budget cuts and friction with COO Nick Scheele.
  • Sue Callaway, general manager of Jaguar Cars of North America. A former journalist, Callaway lasted less than a year on the job before leaving in June. Many Ford and Jaguar executives felt she was not qualified for such a position after less than a year with the automaker.
  • Karen Francis, vice president and CEO of ConsumerConnect, Ford's Internet business group. She leaves the automaker Aug. 1 but will be a consultant on e-business matters. ConsumerConnect is being folded into Ford's global marketing operations.

Kelley, recruited by Nasser, joined Ford in June 1999. Nasser resigned in October after quality issues and the Firestone tire crisis plunged Ford into a sea of red ink.

Before working for Ford, Kelley was vice president and general manager of distribution for General Electric's appliance division. In his tenure at Ford, Kelley was president of Ford's ConsumerConnect Internet operations and vice president of Ford's Global Consumer Services. He took over as president of Lincoln Mercury on Oct. 11.

Kelley had a tough time persuading Lincoln Mercury dealers that, with less than two years of industry experience, he could turn Lincoln Mercury around.

Kelley's departure comes at a time when the Lincoln and Mercury brands are struggling in the market - sales are down 19.7 percent this year. Also, the direction of both brands is in major turmoil.

Lincoln is in the midst of revamping its product line. A new small sport-utility, the Aviator, and a freshened LS and Town Car are due in the 2003 model year. Lincoln also just introduced the second generation of its full-sized Navigator sport-utility.

Mercury is sputtering badly. Two chief designers have been hired this year to establish a stronger brand identity for Mercury.

Kelley's departure triggered a number of other executive moves Friday.

Among them:
  • Kathleen Ligocki, 45, vice president of marketing and operations, takes over for Hazel. She joined Ford in 1998 as director of strategic planning and became president and CEO of Ford of Mexico in 2000. She will be responsible for customer service and parts sales in North America and have global responsibility for parts supply and logistics, vehicle service and technical support operations.
  • Joe Greenwell, 50, vice president of Global Automotive and Product Promotions, moves into Ligocki's former job. Greenwell came to Ford via Jaguar, where he worked in sales, marketing and communications. Greenwell will be responsible for Global Marketing, Ford of Canada, Ford of Mexico and worldwide direct marketing operations.
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Old 07-24-2002, 10:18 AM   #2
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It's not good for Ford at all. From what you're saying is that he been their for a long time at Ford. I predict Ford is going to go under soon.
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Old 07-24-2002, 11:16 PM   #3
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What makes you think they're going under?
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Old 07-26-2002, 07:45 AM   #4
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Well he is 15 and 35 at the same time.....Maybe he is psycic :finger: :finger: :finger:
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Old 07-27-2002, 02:18 AM   #5
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Ford's not going anywhere. Didn't you hear about the new russian plant. hahahahahahahahahahaha
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Old 07-28-2002, 10:38 PM   #6
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Going under?

Hardly...Ford is entirely to large and with too many financial and market analysts on their team to ever allow Ford to completely drop. I personally dont like Ford vehicles and would much prefer a GM(which I happen to own one) if I had to choose a domestic car maker as my favorite. Also, with companies of that magnitude and that have that much economic effect in the US, the government also wont allow it to happen. The federal government makes sure their large, economy stimulating, production companies remain in tact. Chrysler was going bankrupt in 1979 due to their automobile's lack of appeal and the energy crisis that convinced consumers to buy smaller, more stylistic, fuel efficient foriegn cars. Chrysler nearly went bankrupt until the governmant took notice of their problem and granted them 1.5 Billion dollars in loans and when that wasnt enough to get them going again they put quota restrictions on foriegn car imports. Should another large U.S. based corporation fall to this demise the governement will firmly step in and try to revive them. I disagree with the government for doing this because if a car company is going bankrupt they have internal issues that need resolved and handing them 1.5 Billion dollars doesnt take care of that. Even after all of that government help Chrysler still fell face first into the depths of bankruptcy and was taken over by a new owner. The new owner was able to slowly build from the ground up as Chrysler slowly became reputable over many years. Eventually a company you may have heard of called Daimler-Benz bought out Chrysler and now they are doing pretty well.
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