Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are down 8% so far this year while the stock has plummeted 35% since Mark Fields became CEO in July 2014. Ford’s board of directors is reportedly planning to press Fields to better explain his strategy as the automaker’s stock continues to stall.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Ford’s board will meet with Fields ahead of Thursday’s annual shareholders’ meeting to question Fields on his strategy. The board scheduled extra time in their meetings to press him for details, the publication reported, citing a person familiar with the discussions.
“This is the first public sign that the board is becoming impatient,” David Whiston, an analyst with Morningstar, told Bloomberg. “It’s likely proof that the board is frustrated with the stock price languishing for the past several years. It may be a grilling session for Mark.”
Fields’ Strategy
Fields wants to spend billions of dollars to invest in driverless cars and robo-taxis to compete with Uber Technologies and Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet.
He is looking to transform the automaker into a mobility company. The CEO believes that robot taxis and ride-sharing services are essential to the survival of the 114-year-old company.
Fields is looking to bet on $5.4 trillion transportation services business where the automaker currenetly makes no money. He is optimistic about autonomous and electric cars.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) plans to invest $4.5 billion in building 13 new electric vehicles, accounting for 40% of its lineup by 2020.
However, reports have suggested that investors are not impressed with Fields’ strategy.
“They’re in a tough position because they have to focus on selling products today, making money, paying dividends,” Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with Cox Automotive, said when talking about Fields’ strategy. “And yet they’ve got to position themselves for the future and there’s not going to be a payback on that anytime soon.”
In a statement to Bloomberg, Ford Motor declined to provide details about the board meeting, saying that the automaker does not “share details or discussions from our board meetings for competitive reasons.”
Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) were trading up 0.27% in the extended trading session on Tuesday.
