EDITORIAL: Core Ford, New Ford…One Ford?

Soon after news broke late on May 22 that Ford Motor Co. was replacing its president and CEO, the calls, emails and texts started to roll in. Rank-and-file Ford engineers, some relative newbies and others whom I've known for 20 years or more, needed a little catharsis.

“It's been like the ‘Nasser era’ around here-distracted! Eyes off the real business,” one chassis veteran told me. He was equating the strategic direction of deposed CEO Mark Fields to the 1999-2001 tenure of former CEO Jac Nasser who aimed to transform “a boring old car maker” (his words) into a consumer-products and services company. Disruption of the wrong kind followed.