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According to media reports, Jim Farley, the new chief operating officer of reactive Hot Motor, will serve as the company's new chief executive to help Ford Motor Company through the crisis.

Ford announced on Feb. 7 that Jim Farley will be its chief operating officer, reporting to Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett. At the same time, Ford also announced that the current president of the automotive business, Joe Hinrichs, officially retired after 19 years of service with Ford.

Jim Farley joined Ford in 2007 as president of global marketing and then in charge of the Lincoln brand and Ford's operations in South America, Europe and Ford's global markets. Since April 2019, Jim Farley has been President of emerging Business, Technology and Corporate Strategy, responsible for reshaping the pioneering business forces of industry change, including software platforms, car networking, artificial intelligence, self-driving and new energy vehicles.

After taking over as chief operating officer, Jim ∙ Farley will lead Ford to strengthen its automotive business and ensure that it achieves its target of 8 per cent EBIT for its global operations. Jim Farley will be responsible for Ford's global marketing and automotive operations, including product development, procurement, global product line management, manufacturing and labor relations, marketing, sales and service, quality and new model release.

It also makes it a popular successor to Ford CEO Hankett, whose share price has fallen 38% since he became CEO in May 2017, and the continued decline in Ford's share price has put Hankett under multiple pressures. At present, Hankate is committed to helping the company turn things around through a series of factory closures and layoffs around the world.

Last year, Ford had a difficult year. Ford sold 4.9 million vehicles worldwide in 2019, down 7.7 per cent from a year earlier. Among them, the Chinese market fell sharply for the third year in a row, down 26.1% from a year earlier to 567900 units. This directly led to Ford's loss of $771 million in the Chinese market in 2019.

Full-year operating income in 2019 was $155.9 billion, down 3% from the previous year; Ford's net profit for 2019 was $47 million, down 98.7% from $3.7 billion in 2018. Of this total, it lost $704 million in South America, $47 million in Europe, $23 million in Asia Pacific and $142 million in the Middle East and Africa.

For 2020, Ford expects adjusted free cash flow to reach $2.4 billion to $3.4 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and tax to be between $5.6 billion and $6.6 billion, a big drop from its forecast for 2019.

Ford's share price plummeted after dismal fiscal year results and disappointing expectations. Despite the downturn, Ford CEO Hankate reiterated that he had no plans to leave Ford soon: "I plan to stay in this position and work closely with Jim Farley to achieve the value we have always promised."

At present, boosting the company's share price is as important as boosting sales for Hankate, and if something goes wrong, the CEO may not be far from leaving office.

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