Those close to Farley describe him as an inexhaustible worker who is approachable and asks questions.
“He doesn’t know what a time clock is,” said Rhett Ricart, CEO of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus, Ohio. “I’ll get text messages from him Saturday morning, Sunday night. He is totally engaged.”
This spring, as Congress hashed out a $2 trillion economic stimulus package in response to the pandemic, Farley spoke daily with Ricart, this year’s chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, about what could best help Ford’s retail network. Ricart, in turn, asked Farley to lobby governors to let dealers at least keep service departments open under shelter-in-place orders.
It was during that time, Hackett said last week, that Farley secured his place as his successor.
That didn’t surprise Jim Press, the former Toyota Motor North America COO who worked closely with Farley at the Japanese automaker. Farley, a lifelong car fanatic nicknamed Jimmy Car-Car while growing up in Argentina, was “born to be Ford CEO one day,” Press said.
He has “the right blend of circumstance, tremendous personal qualities and capability, tireless work and good fortune,” said Press, who later became deputy CEO at Chrysler Group and is now executive vice president of McLarty Cos. dealership group. Farley, who will be the first Ford CEO to have worked at a competitor, has learned from his previous bosses, Press said.
“From Yuki Togo at Toyota, who represented the highest level of emotional intelligence, to Alan Mulally’s leadership genius to Mark Fields’ exceptional business talent and Jim Hackett’s vision and understanding of the mobility future, Jim has continued to grow and add new dimensions,” he said.
