Ford ousts Fields as CEO and installs Hackett

In a shake-up reflecting the pressures on the U.S. auto industry, Ford Motor Co. replaced CEO Mark Fields on Monday and vowed to catch up in the race to build self-driving cars and define a new era in personal mobility.

During Fields’ three-year tenure — when Ford’s shares dropped 40 percent — he came under fire from investors and his board for failing to expand the company’s core auto business and for lagging in developing the high-tech cars of the future.

The board’s decision to change management was made Friday, eight days after Fields had been sharply criticized for deteriorating financial results during the annual shareholders meeting.

“Extraordinary times require transformational leadership, and that’s what Jim has been his entire career,” said Ford, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford.

Hackett said the board has given him a free hand to transform the nation’s No. 2 automaker, including seeking alliances with Silicon Valley firms, changing its product lineup, and divesting itself of unprofitable global operations.

[...] unable to reverse the stock decline, he ran out of time to carry out his strategy to cut costs and expand Ford’s lineup of trucks and sport utility vehicles, while also investing in autonomous and electrified vehicles.

Despite spending heavily on self-driving research, Ford was struggling to keep pace with larger automakers such as General Motors and tech giants like Google, both of which have been testing self-driving vehicles.

At the annual meeting on May 11, Fields said Ford was capable of staying competitive in the current market while also “keeping one foot in the future” of an industry heading toward autonomous, battery-powered cars.