DETROIT, Sept. 9- William Clay Ford Jr., chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, shook up his top management ranks on Thursday as he prepares to embark on the second turnaround plan of his four-year tenure. þþThe move comes as high gas prices, rising health care costs and an overdependence on large sport utility vehicles have made Ford and General Motors increasingly uncompetitive with rivals, like Toyota, in the American market.þþAs part of the shakeup, Mark Fields, Ford's top European executive, will become the fourth person to lead the company's North American operations in as many years. Mr. Fields, 44, will also lead the company's South American operations. He replaces Greg C. Smith, who was named a vice chairman overseeing human resources, labor relations and other administrative offices.þþÿMark Fields is one of our most experienced, capable and proven leaders, with high-level experience in all of our most critical automotive operations,ÿ Mr. Ford said in a statement. ÿHis next challenge is to lead the Americas automotive operations back to a sustained level of profitability.ÿþþThe elevation of Mr. Fields, who has had a mixed track record in Europe, set off a wave of management reshuffling across Ford's global operations. Mark Schulz, 53, Ford's executive vice president overseeing the Asia-Pacific and Africa markets as well as the Mazda brand, will add Europe to his duties, effectively splitting the world with Mr. Fields. Both men will report to Mr. Ford's top deputy, James J. Padilla, the company's president. þþBrett Hoselton, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, said the elevation of Mr. Fields to such a critical role at the company reaffirmed that he was a rising star but also raised questions about the company's management depth. þþÿPersonally, I think he's a little young and inexperienced for the magnitude of the task. If it were my company, I would have preferred to give him a little more seasoning,ÿ Mr. Hoselton said. ÿThe bench is not deep at Ford. This is not the New York Yankees.ÿþþThe management shakeup came as the Canadian Auto Workers union said it had chosen Ford to take the lead role in negotiating a new labor contract for Big Three autoworkers in Canada. The current contract expires on Sept. 20. Auto unions in both the United States and Canada traditionally choose one of the three Detroit-based automakers to lead negotiations, and the contract they draft sets the pattern followed by the other companies. þþThe Canadian union's president, Buzz Hargrove, said that all three companies were making difficult demands in early rounds of negotiating, but he warned that a strike at DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler division was ÿinevitableÿ unless it backed down from its specific stance on job cuts and changes to work rules. A spokesman for Chrysler of Canada said he was confident that the company could work productively with the union. þþIn comments on a teleconference call from Toronto yesterday, Mr. Hargrove said the competitive pressures on Ford, G.M. and Chrysler had overturned the normal course of business in labor negotiations. þþÿIt's almost like bargaining is shifting, where the companies put the demands in and the union responds, as opposed to the history of collective bargaining, where the workers' demands are the priority,ÿ he said. þþIn Detroit, Mr. Hargrove's American counterpart, Ron Gettelfinger of the United Auto Workers union, said on Thursday that he was ÿoptimisticÿ about the progress being made in his union's talks with G.M. over cutting back the company's nearly $6 billion annual health care bill. The U.A.W. does not negotiate its labor contract until 2007, but G.M. has been pressing the union for an unusual set of early concessions in the wake of steep losses in its domestic business. þþThe talks, however, have been complicated by G.M.'s former parts supplier, Delphi, which has threatened to file for bankruptcy unless the U.A.W. and G.M. bail it out. þþÿWe're all hopeful we'll find an answer to the issues,ÿ said Richard Shoemaker, a top U.A.W. negotiator, when asked about Delphi at a press conference with Mr. Gettelfinger. ÿOnly time will tell if that's possible,ÿ he added.þþLabor costs will be one of many challenges for Mr. Fields, a former executive at Ford's Mazda affiliate who has spent the last few years in Europe. Mr. Ford, the chief executive, praised Mr. Fields' marketing savvy and motivational skills. But Mr. Fields has had an uneven tenure in Europe. For the last three years, he has overseen Ford's Premier Automotive Group, the luxury division that includes Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and Land Rover.þþWhen Mr. Ford first took on the chief executive job in late 2001, he created a turnaround plan that envisioned Premier as a major profit contributor. But in recent years, it has become increasingly uncertain that the division can pull its weight - it lost $71 million in the first half of the year, compared to a $314 million loss in the first half of 2004. þþProfits at Ford of Europe, which Mr. Fields has also overseen since April of 2004, fell to $125 million in the first half, from $167 million in 2004. þþMr. Fields has laid some groundwork for recovery by making difficult moves, including closing a more than half-century old Jaguar plant in Britain; the division has been particularly troublesome for the company. þþBy far the company's biggest problems are in North America, where automotive operations lost $657 million in the first half of the year compared to a $2.3 billion profit a year earlier. þþBoth Ford and G.M. have had to resort to higher spending on incentives to keep their vehicles selling. On Thursday, G.M. said it would end its employee discount offers to the public at the end of the month to ratchet back incentive spending.þþFord's problems in North America worsened on Wednesday when it recalled nearly four million S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks to repair a problem in the cruise control system that can lead to fires. þþMr. Ford recently said he would announce a new turnaround plan later this year.þþUnder the new management structure, Mark Schulz will now oversee Premier along with his sprawling global responsibilities. Lewis Booth, 56, the chief executive of Ford of Europe, adds management of the Premier group to his duties, but will report to Mr. Schulz. Hans-Olov Olsson, 63, the president of Ford's Volvo division, was appointed chief marketing officer of the parent company.þþ
Source: NY Times
