Ford CEO Jim Hackett Stepping Down Oct. 1; COO Jim Farley to Take the Reins

"We know our competition today. It's Amazon, Baidu, Tesla, Apple, and others.”—Ford COO Jim Farley, who will take the top job this fall.

Yesterday, Ford said current CEO Jim Hackett will retire on Oct. 1. The 117-year-old auto company’s stock is down nearly 40% since Hackett took over, while Tesla’s is up ~640%.

Jim #1: Hackett previously headed Ford’s AV unit. As CEO, he killed off sedans, focused on larger vehicles, and led the (gradual) pivot to electrification.

• The Mach-E will start rolling off production lines this year, with the e-F150 slated for 2022.
• Under Hackett’s watch, Ford invested $500 million in EV startup Rivian. Ford will build EVs on Rivian's skateboard platform in the U.S. and Volkswagen's MEB platform in Europe.

Jim #2: Ford was grooming Farley, who’s worked on EV strategy, mobility partnerships, and AVs. As Ford expands into a full-stack mobility, autonomy, and software company, I’d expect its Palo Alto outpost to grow under Farley.

+ While we’re here: Ford notched a surprise profit last quarter thanks to its stake in Argo AI. Volkswagen finalized a $3.5 billion investment in the self-driving company.