The British-born chief operating officer of Ford's European operations, Martin Leach, resigned yesterday in the wake of deepening losses in the struggling car group's second-largest market.
Mr Leach, 46, paid the price for a steep rise in second quarter pre-tax losses at Ford Europe from $18m (£12m) in 2002 to $525m as the business suffered from falling sales. He had been in his job for just a year.
David Thursfield, Ford Europe's chief executive and chairman, who takes his place until a successor can be found, said: "Martin contributed to our growth in Europe under challenging conditions. As we move forward, we will build upon that foundation. The Ford of Europe team remains committed to improving our financial results and to delivering outstanding products."
But Ford has suffered a substantial erosion of its market share in western Europe. In the first six months of this year, its share has fallen to 11.3%, dropping behind VW, Peugeot-Citroen and combined Japanese companies. Total sales were 856,565 units.
In Britain, where Ford has been market leader for many years, its share has been drifting down towards 15%, despite an extensive series of discounts such as free insurance.
The group, which saw global pre-tax profits decline from $1bn in the second quarter of 2002 to $718m in the same quarter this year, blamed de clining prices, an unfavourable car mix, an overall fall in industry-wide sales and cuts in dealers' stocks for its poor performance in Europe.
Mr Thursfield insisted, however, that the division had introduced 35 new models since 2000, and that it had grown market share, improved customer satisfaction, reduced product age and cut costs.
He added that he expected improvements to continue, with the company taking unspecified extra cost-cuts to offset market conditions. These are part of a global drive to cut $2.5bn of costs this year alone.
Mr Leach is the latest executive victim of the continuing crisis at the world's second largest car maker, which began with the ousting of Jack Nasser as global head in October 2001 and his replacement by family scion Bill Ford.
Ford's problems contrast with the recent performance of General Motors, its bigger rival, which has increased market share in Europe despite a sharp drop in overall sales driven by a weak mainland economy.
The group is under pressure to integrate the Ford brand with those brands which are held under the roof of the company's profitable premier automotive group, including Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin.
The premier automotive group made pre-tax profits of $166m in the second quarter of this year against a loss of $122m in 2002, and is seen as developing into Ford's future biggest earner.
