Amid the leadership shakeup at Ford, several industry analysts and observers weighed in Monday on the news that Jim Hackett would be replacing Mark Fields as the Blue Oval’s president and chief executive officer.

The news was first reported Sunday night by Joann Muller of Forbes before the automaker made the announcement Monday morning.

“We’re moving from a position of strength to transform Ford for the future,” executive chairman Bill Ford said in a news release. “Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space. He’s a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business.”

He added later in the release: “Mark Fields has been an outstanding leader and deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe at Ford. His strong leadership was critical to our North American restructuring, our turnaround at the end of the last decade, and our record profits in the past two years.”

‘Trying to send a strong message’

Hackett has been in charge of Ford Smart Mobility since March 2016, and the move to make him the top boss plays into Ford's emphasis on emerging tech.

One of the three priorities for Hackett and Bill Ford listed in the news releases is to modernize the automaker’s business, “using new tools and techniques to unleash innovation, speed decision making and improve efficiency,” including “increasingly leveraging big data, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, 3D printing and more,” the company said.

“Given how rapidly the transportation sector is expected to transform in the next decade, Ford can't afford to be behind the eight ball when it comes to emerging technology,” Jessica Caldwell, who is executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, said in commentary provided to the media.

“If we’ve learned anything from the phenomenon of Elon Musk, it’s that Wall Street likes a tech/innovation guy. Putting the head of their mobility division at the helm indicates Ford is trying to send a strong message to stockholders that the company intends to be a dominant player in the future of mobility,” she said.

“With the market plateauing, this new team is going to be challenged to create some very creative new marketing and communications strategies to make a near-term difference in the company’s bottom line.”

Successes couldn’t turn the tide

As Karl Brauer points out in commentary provided to the media, Fields’ work in the past three years as CEO includes most robust post-recession financial results, the market’s most advanced pickup trucks and making tech investments to set Ford up for success in the future.

“But over this same period Marry Barra and GM have produced even more impressive financial results by focusing on where GM can be profitable while removing business units showing little short- or long-term promise,” said Brauer, who is executive publisher for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

“Add in the rise of Tesla, an upstart automaker that has eclipsed Ford and GM’s value by promising to change the world through advanced technology, and the impressive results Fields delivered simply weren’t enough to satisfy Ford’s stockholders,” Brauer said.

Likewise, KBB executive analyst Rebecca Lindland said: “Mark Fields took a long-term approach to making Ford a mobility company. However, investors — which include the super-voting shares the Ford family owns and just confirmed again at the annual meeting May 11 — we're not so patient.  Following Alan Mulally was never going to be easy, and Fields held his own, but the reality was he couldn't rally the troops internally and pacify investors and the Ford family externally.”