DETROIT (Oct. 30, 2001)—Ford Motor Co. Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. has replaced Jacques Nasser as the car maker's chief executive officer.
The Detroit-based company announced Oct. 30 that Mr. Nasser, 53, was leaving the company.
William Ford is the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford.
For months Mr. Nasser had been increasingly under pressure for Ford's loss of market share and tumbling profitability.
During Congressional hearings over the recall of original equipment Firestone light truck tires on Ford Explorers, Mr. Nasser defended Ford, placing all blame on Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. for tread separation problems. That led to a split between the two companies' nearly 100-year relationship, as the tire maker ended its supply agreement with Ford last May amid a war of words.