APRIL 23, 2004

A shake-up at Ford

A few days after the company announced a profit, showing signs that the Detroit giant is on the way to recovery, the Ford Motor Company has had a management reshuffle with Sir Nicke Scheele giving up his role as chief operating officer but staying on as president. Jim Padilla, the head of the company's US business become COO. David Thursfield, the head of international operations and global purchasing, is leaving the company and will not be replaced. Thursfield and Scheele have not had an easy working relationship and rumours in the caar industry say that things should be much smoother now that Thursfield is no longer there. Three rising stars have been promoting to executive vice president level: Mark Fields who is running European and luxury operations (and so is ultimately in charge of the Jaguar F1 programme), Greg Smith, Padilla's replacement as head of US operations and Mark Schultz who is running Ford's business in Asia.