One industry observer classified Alan Mulally as “the man who saved Ford.” Now it’s up to Mark Fields to keep the Blue Oval on an upward track.

As was reportedly to be in the works, Ford announced Thursday that Mulally has decided to retire from the company July 1, and Fields will be named Ford president and chief executive officer and elected as a member of the company’s board of directors.

It’s been quite a transformation since Mulally took over Ford in September 2006. Under Mulally and the company’s One Ford plan for profitable growth, Ford has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of profitability, developed the strongest product lineup in Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious global expansion in the past half century.

And the Blue Oval’s certified pre-owned program is enjoying unprecedented successes, too. Ford is coming off of its best year ever for CPO sales, according to Autodata Corp. Its Ford/Mercury and Lincoln programs combined to sell 227,755 vehicles in 2013 for a 32-percent year-over-year hike.

“The key to our success these last two years is that our Ford and Lincoln dealers have a competitive program — and I would underscore the involvement that our dealer council played in revamping our program. They were very much at the forefront of helping us develop a more competitive program,” Ford’s national CPO sales manager Todd Fites told Auto Remarketing last October.

“We worked with the dealer council to come up with the right set of benefits to make our program fully competitive in the industry,” Fites said. “We continue to believe that we have the best dealer body in the industry, and the CPO sales growth these last two years is a key proof point that backs up that statement.”

Part of the reason for the certified gains is because Ford filled its new-model pipeline with vehicles primed to become a quality CPO unit. Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer made the assertion that it was Mulally who kept Ford from experiencing a similar financial fate as its domestic brethren.

“He came in after a series of failed leaders that had allowed Ford’s product and position to deteriorate to a precarious position,” Brauer said. “He also managed to secure financing for Ford’s turnaround before the credit crunch, though that could be argued as a negative because it saddled Ford with private debt that Chrysler and GM were able to cast off as part of their government restructuring.

“Conversely, Ford never needed government help to survive, which many consumers view as an important distinction among domestic automakers. Regardless, Alan Mulally turned Ford around by changing the corporate climate, securing financing and creating a plan the company could follow back to profitability,” Brauer went on to say.

More on Mulally’s Tenure

Mulally is retiring after nearly eight years leading Ford and capping a remarkable 45-year career.

“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,” executive chairman Bill Ford said. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived the global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies. We always will be grateful to Alan for his leadership, compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that will serve our company for decades to come.”

The transition in July is approximately six months earlier than previously anticipated, following Mulally’s recommendation to accelerate the timetable based on the readiness of Ford’s leadership team.

“Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and now is the time to begin the transition,” said Bill Ford, who recruited Mulally from Boeing in 2006.

Mulally thanked the Ford team for their many contributions and accomplishments.

“It has been an honor to serve and contribute to creating a viable, profitably growing company for the good of everyone associated with the Ford Motor Co.,” Mulally said. “By working together with all of our stakeholders around the world, we now are accelerating Henry Ford’s original vision to open the highways to all mankind.

“Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark — supported by an experienced and dedicated senior leadership team — is absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling vision,” Mulally added.

New Executive in Charge

Fields was named Ford’s chief operating officer in December 2012. He has been leading all of Ford’s global business operations and most skill teams, including product development, manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing, sales and service.

Fields’ role as COO has included leading the company’s weekly business plan review meeting, which Mulally established to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor the global business and competitive environment. The Thursday meetings are credited with driving a reliable and transparent process for running Ford’s global operations and enabling Ford’s senior leadership to work closely together and act decisively on its plan.

Before serving as COO, Fields served as executive vice president and president for the Americas since October 2005. There, he led the transformation of Ford’s North American business – turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the last four years. Earlier, Fields guided the product-led transformation of Ford’s European operations and formerly held European luxury brands, as well as the relaunch of Ford’s independent operations in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renaissance at Mazda.

Fields underscored his commitment to the One Ford plan, including building on the company’s unprecedented global introduction of new products, innovations and excellence.

“It is a true honor to lead this great company and this talented team into the future,” Fields said. “Under Alan’s leadership, we have seen the power of One Ford and what a culture of positive leadership and working together can accomplish. My commitment is to build on that success by accelerating our pace of progress. All of us at Ford are committed to delivering even more of the great products and innovations that will deliver growth and define our company going forward.”

Brauer agrees that Fields is primed to lead the Blue Oval.

“Mark Fields is well positioned to succeed Mulally after 25 years with the company,” Brauer said.  “His previous role as the head of Mazda gives him experience in the Asia-Pacific market, a critical region for growth going forward. In recent years Mark Fields ran operations and cut costs at Ford while serving as a key advisor to Alan Mulally in the formation and execution of the One Ford Plan. He¹s been the favored successor to run Ford for several years because of his background and experience with the automaker.”

Eric Ibara, another senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, offered his assessment of both Fields and Mulally, pointing to the shrewd decisions the retiring executive made going into the last recession.

“To a certain degree, this message will be met with little fanfare as it was widely anticipated for some time now,” Ibara said.  “However, the implication for Ford is enormous.  Due to Mark Fields' age, which is youthful for an automotive CEO, he is poised to lead the company for a long time.  He showed his brilliance in his plan to turn Ford around, created before Alan Mulally arrived, and mostly accepted by Alan and the rest of Ford as the right plan to implement.

“Mulally’s genius was in anticipating the dramatic falloff in sales that followed the financial crisis of 2008, sparing Ford the indignity of having to declare bankruptcy,” Ibara continued. “For this reason alone, Mulally has secured his rightful place in Ford's pantheon of visionary leaders with a space next to him reserved for Fields to earn.”