Ford chief Jacques Nasser ousted

Mr Nasser pays the price for under-performance

William Clay Ford Jr is to replace Jacques Nasser as chief executive of US car giant Ford Motor.

Engine trouble

22 May - Ford to replace 13 million Firestone tyres and take a $3bn charge

18 July - Ford reports $551m quarterly loss

26 July - William Ford Jr takes over as chairman

1 Aug - Ford's US market share falls to 22%

17 Aug - Ford cuts 10% of its white-collar workers

10 Oct - Ford halves dividend

17 Oct - Ford posts first consecutive quarterly loss in a decade

William Ford Jr, 44, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford and currently the chairman, took over at the head of the company in July.

Ford has recently lost significant market share and this month reported its first consecutive quarterly loss in nearly a decade.

It was not clear whether the changes would affect the timing of Ford's restructuring plan, which may include broader job cuts, which is to be unveiled in December.

Ford's restructuring

It would be the first time a Ford family member has run the company since Henry Ford II resigned as chief executive in 1979.

Mr Ford represents the return of family control

Mr Nasser's ousting follows reports of serious rifts with the Ford family, which still controls 40% of the board of directors' voting power through stock holdings.

The company also confirmed that the Ford management restructuring also involved British-born Nick Scheele, vice president for North America and former European vice-president, becoming chief operating officer.

Jim Padilla, group vice president for manufacturing and quality, will take over Mr Scheele's job as head of North America, and Carl Reichardt, the former chairman of Wells Fargo, becomes vice-chairman.

Nasser's decline

Ford's chairman had previously declined to comment on the reported rift with Mr Nasser and claims that he would be removed.

Ford's results showed it was hard hit by the attacks on New York and Washington with net losses totalling $692m, compared with net earnings of $888m a year earlier.

But even before 11 September, Ford's results were suffering from the impact of the Firestone tyre crisis, a number of other embarrassing product recalls and a highly competitive market.

Mr Nasser was known as "Jacques the Knife" for the way he cut jobs, especially in the UK.

The Lebanese-born and Australian-raised Mr Nasser took over as head of Ford in January 1999 after joining the company in 1968.