Fields to be Named Ford CEO Soon - Analyst Blog

Ford Motor Co. F will make the official announcement of the promotion of Chief Operating Officer COO Mark Fields to the position of Chief Executive Officer CEO as early as the beginning of May, according to media reports. While it has been known for some time that Fields will succeed Alan Mulally when the latter steps down as the CEO, Ford had never made any official announcement related to it.

68-year old Mulally has been Ford's president and CEO since Sep 5, 2006. He helped the automaker counter recessionary impacts, avoid bankruptcy and eventually generate higher profits. Prior to Ford, Mulally was part of The Boeing Company BA.

Towards the end of last year, rumors surfaced that he would become the next CEO of Microsoft Corporation MSFT following the departure of Steve Ballmer. However, these rumors were put to rest earlier this year, when Satya Nadella was named as the successor. Moreover, Mulally made it clear that he intends to stay with Ford at least till 2014-end.

53-year old Fields has been Ford's COO since Dec 2012. He is responsible for the daily operations of the company besides handling its weekly business plan review.

Fields has been responsible for making the North and South American businesses of Ford profitable. He, along with Mulally, protected the company from going bankrupt like General Motors Company GM and Chrysler Group LLC during the recession. Before becoming Ford's COO he also turned Japanese automaker Mazda profitable. Mazda was controlled by Ford at that time.

Ford will report its first-quarter earnings before the market opens on Apr 25, 2014. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the automaker's first-quarter earnings is pegged at 31 cents per share, down 23.7% year over year.

Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).