Ford Fires CEO Mark Fields; Names New CEO

The official announcement will be made Monday, reveals a report by Forbes and other news agencies. It's said that the change in the guard was made due to the board losing confidence in Fields and his ambitions.

Mark Fields, who has been the CEO of Ford since 2014, is not the only one to be relieved from his current duties. The change is seen as a part of a major management shakeup, and new executives will now be taking up different roles.

Other replacements include Ford's Vice President (VP) of Communications, Ray Day, will also be leaving the company, replaced by Mark Truby, who is currently the VP of communications of Ford's Asia-Pacific operations. James Farlay, President of Ford's Europe, Middle East and Africa business, along with Joseph Hinrichs, head of Ford North America will be getting larger roles.

Sources close to the development have said that there were growing discontent that Fields wasn't focusing enough on Ford's core business, as popular products like the Fusion sedan which grew outdated, and the company lagging behind competitors in bringing long-range electric cars to the market.

Ford's stock price has fallen almost 40 percent in the three years, and that has not helped Fields either. Under Fields' leadership, Ford began shifting towards becoming a mobility company with a focus on autonomous driving technology, apps, ride-sharing platforms among others.

However, none of the projects was known to be groundbreaking. Also, with Google and Apple already in this space, Fields could barely defend Ford's position and how it proposes to create profits.

James Hackett, who will replace Fields, previously worked as the Ford Director for three years before becoming the chairman of the newly formed mobility services subsidiary in March 2016. Before his role in Ford, Hackett served as the CEO of office furniture maker Steelcase.