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Ford On Firing Line At Annual Meeting
FORD ON FIRING LINE AT ANNUAL MEETING
Facing his first annual shareholders meeting as Ford Motor Company CEO,
William Clay Ford, Jr. is by no means in an enviable position. The company
's fortunes have continued to under-perform this spring, and the
44-year-old chairman no longer can pass the misfortunes away to a CEO not
named Ford. Bill Ford himself is required to do the chore May 9 when
stockholders, directors, top officers and media assemble in Irvine, Calif.
What's more, pre-meeting media assessments of Bill Ford's CEO
qualifications and accomplishments have not awarded him any Oscars or gold
medals. A savage Forbes piece this month asks if he's "too nice a guy" to
do the tough things necessary to reverse Ford's ongoing slide. He hasn't
fired Ford CFO I. Martin Inglis, the magazine points out, a holdover from
the appointments of Jacques A. Nasser, whom Bill Ford fired as CEO last
fall and then replaced. What's more, Ford has again been burned by quality
problems, including NHTSA probes of bearings failures and engine fires on
2000 and 2001 models of the top-selling Focus subcompact car and oil leaks
on 5.4-liter V-8 engines on four truck lines.
The rubout of the Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck after a mere 18 months of
production is bound to provoke some stockholder feedback in Irvine. Bill
Ford, who is one of the nicer guys around, gave an impressive report in
early January when the company's recovery plan was announced. But March
and first quarter sales of Ford products declined 12 percent and the
premature display of the new Five Hundred "tall sedan" at the New York
show as the company's next family car probably isn't going to help
already-stagnant Taurus/Sable sales. There's no question about Bill Ford's
ardent dedication to revamping the 99-year-old company, but he'll need to
come up with more than good manners to answer the restless crowd in Orange
County. -Mac Gordon
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