Change Seen in CFO Post at Ford

DETROIT December 30, 2002; Reuters reported that Ford Motor Co. is seeking a replacement for its Chief Financial Officer Allan Gilmour seven months after he came out of retirement to take the job, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The Times, in an online report due to appear in Tuesday's editions, did not offer a source for the information. But it said Gilmour was not expected to leave the company any time soon, grooming a successor who would work under him for a period of time before fading into an advisory role at the world's second-largest automaker.

Ford spokesmen declined immediate comment on the report, but their absence of a denial appeared to lend it credence, industry analysts said.

"I would expect that that's been the plan all along," said one Wall Street analyst, referring to what is now expected to be Gilmour's brief reign over finances at the Dearborn, Michigan-based, automaker.

"He's not like Bob Lutz who's been saying that he'd stay for a long time," added the analyst, referring to the recent return from retirement of Lutz, the Detroit automotive icon and product czar at General Motors Corp. .

Gilmour, 68, was asked to come back by Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr. to help implement the company's turnaround plan after a loss of $5.45 billion last year.

Ford has struggled to match the incentives launched by GM this year in an all-out pricing war to grow market share.

Though essentially neutral in terms of the Wall Street view of Ford's turnaround efforts, and well within expectations, Gilmour's likely departure from the company in the new year was somewhat unsettling, analysts said.

"I don't think that they can keep changing horses," said one analyst, referring to a rash of senior management changes since former Chief Executive Jacques Nasser was ousted in October last year.