In what observers called a “bolt out of the blue,” Phil Martens, 45, head of production creation for Ford Motor Co., and Matt DeMars, 49, vice president of North American vehicle operations, have resigned.
After Bill Ford, chairman of the automaker, promoted Mark Fields, 44, to head its struggling North American automotive operations last month, replacing Greg Smith, 54, it was expected other executive moves would follow, but not at such senior management levels.
“[Ford] said the company had to visibly and quickly head on a new course, in a new direction and not maintain status quo, and this certainly was fast and certainly not status quo,” said Dave Cole, president of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“Is Ford deep in talent? We’ll have to see,” said Cole of potential replacements for Martens, who basically was in charge of product, and DeMars, who was in charge of manufacturing. There is, as yet, no word on their replacements.
People familiar with Fields said that in his first week in office, he sent out a memo stating, “Getting the right people to run the team will be one of my first priorities.”
There were reports that Fields and Martens were at odds when Martens, in 1999, was head of product development for Mazda–owned by Ford–and Fields ran the Mazda operation.
Ford spokesman Oscar Suris said that the resignations follow an assessment of the company’s management team by Ford and Fields and that there might be other changes. He insisted, however, the moves were voluntary, and the pair weren’t forced to leave.
“This is just another indication of how the management there is unstable,” Maryann Keller, an independent auto analyst and consultant in Greenwich, Conn., told Bloomberg News. “Now there’s more holes to fill.”
Earl Hesterberg, Ford’s head of sales and marketing in North America, departed in April to become CEO of Houston-based Group 1 Automotive Inc., a publicly traded auto retailer. In 2004, Executive Vice President David Thursfield left as head of international operations, and President Nick Scheele and Vice Chairman Allan Gilmour retired Feb. 1.
Ford has lost money in North America in three of the last four quarters through June 30. Ford’s U.S. market share declined for 28 straight months until July, when the automaker offered employee pricing for all customers.
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jmateja@tribune.com
