Jim Hackett, left, and Bill Ford, right, during Hackett's introduction as President and CEO.

Ford Motor Co. officially named Jim Hackett as its new president and chief executive officer and with his experience outside of the automotive world, the appointment immediately called to mind another recent Ford CEO — Alan Mulally.

Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman and great grandson of the company’s founder, alluded to Mulally’s appointment as CEO during the press conference. Mulally infused Ford with a sense of optimism that it could and would win and he firmly believes Hackett can now do the same thing, said Ford, who indicated that more changes in the ranks of the company’s senior management will be forthcoming in next few weeks as the shakeup continues.

Hackett, 62, has a long track record of innovation and business success as CEO of Steelcase, interim Athletic Director at the University of Michigan and executive chairman of Ford Smart Mobility LLC since March 2016.

While the automaker’s financial position is nowhere near as dire as it was in 2006 when Mulally was named CEO, the company has faced a revolt among investors on Wall Street driving down the value of the company’s stock and setting the stage for ouster of Ford’s incumbent CEO, Mark Fields.

(Ford CEO Fields out. Click Here for the initial story.)

Fields, 56, elected to retire from Ford after a “successful” 28-year career with the company.

Newly appointed Jim Hackett reminded Bill Ford of another Ford CEO: Alan Mulally, left.

However, the 37% drop in the stock price also clearly has alarmed the Ford family, which still controls the company through its preferred shares of stock and most of the family’s fortune is closely tied to value of Ford shares.

Hackett, who will report directly to Executive Chairman Bill Ford, was given responsibility with leading the company’s operations and 202,000 employees worldwide

“We’re moving from a position of strength to transform Ford for the future,” Bill Ford said. “Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space. He’s a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business.”

Hackett, a former University of Michigan football player, was enthusiastic about the new challenge.

“I am so excited to work with Bill Ford and the entire team to create an even more dynamic and vibrant Ford that improves people’s lives around the world, and creates value for all of our stakeholders,” said Hackett.

“I have developed a deep appreciation for Ford’s people, values and heritage during the past four years as part of the company and look forward to working together with everyone tied to Ford during this transformative period,” he added.

(Click Here to see more of the changes to Ford’s management team.)

Hackett will focus on three priorities, including  sharpening “operational execution” across the global business to further enhance the company’s basic strategy and product launches, while attacking under-performing parts of the business, modernizing Ford business to unleash innovation and decision making and improving efficiency as well as transforming the company to meet future challenges such as bring in new talent and making the company increasingly nimble to meet changes in consumer behavior.

Bill Ford had kind words for the departing Fields.

“Mark Fields has been an outstanding leader and deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe at Ford,” Bill Ford said.

“Mark had a tremendous career at Ford. He had done great things, starting with the Ford Way Forward plan. He put us in a great position. I’m very thankful to Mark. But this is a time of great change and fortunately we have a transformational leader at hand,” Bill Ford told reporters and analysts.

“His strong leadership was critical to our North American restructuring, our turnaround at the end of the last decade, and our record profits in the past two years,” he added.

However, Bill Ford also said he had developed a rapport with Hackett and had been impressed with his talent and accomplishments, which include the rapid turnaround of the U-M athletic department and gaining a deep appreciation of Silicon Valley.

(To see more about how Detroit’s Big Three are dealing with adapting to a global market, Click Here.)

“We’ve always clicked. He can integrate future thinking into an operation,” Bill Ford said.