Lewis Booth, Ford Motor Co.'s chief financial officer, plans toretire in the first half of this year, clearing the way for ChiefExecutive Officer Alan Mulally to step up efforts to groom the nextCEO, according to two people familiar with the plan.

Mulally, 66, will probably retire around the end of 2013 andBooth's departure gives him the opportunity to name a new No. 2executive who could be trained as the next CEO, most likely MarkFields, said one of the people, who asked not to be identifieddisclosing private plans. Fields, 50, runs operations in NorthAmerica and South America. Booth, 63, has been Mulally's de factosecond in command, the only other executive with a global view ofworldwide operations, said the people.

Asked yesterday at the Detroit auto show if he planned to retirein the first half of this year, Booth declined to comment. WhenMulally was asked later if he felt his job was done turning Fordaround, the CEO responded: “I'm just getting started.”

“This sets up Mark Fields for a higher position he can step upto,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst with auto researcher Edmunds.com,said yesterday. “This will move more pieces into place, but I stilldon't think we'll see the whole picture for a while.”

Booth became Ford's finance chief in November 2008, as theDearborn, Michigan-based automaker was completing a year in whichit lost a record $14.8 billion and its share price fell as low as$1.26.

The executive engineered Ford's largest ever debt restructuringin 2009, led the sale of its Volvo luxury line to China's ZhejiangGeely Holding Group Co. in 2010 and spearheaded restoration ofFord's dividend after a 5-year-suspension. The automaker's sharesclosed yesterday at $11.80, it made $6.6 billion in the first ninemonths of last year and it's within one level of aninvestment-grade credit rating.

Booth, the son of a Liverpool, England, car dealer, also had asignificant say in Ford's global operations, said the person. Priorto becoming CFO, Booth spent 12 years running Ford's regionalcarmaking operations, first in South Africa, then Asia and finallyin Europe. He engineered a turnaround at Mazda Motor Corp. inJapan, at the time controlled by Ford, overhauled the company'sEuropean car lineup and likes to drive a Transit Connect deliveryvan with racing stripes.

“He literally knows how the entire Ford world works more thanany executive we have in the company,” Executive Chairman Bill Fordsaid in a 2009 interview.

Staggered Departures

Booth is leaving now in part because Ford's board didn't want tolose him and Mulally at the same time, said the person. That wouldhave left too large a leadership void at the top of the company. Bystaggering their departures, Mulally will have time to groomsomeone, probably Fields, to first take on some of Booth's formerduties and eventually grow into the CEO job, the person said.

Fields preceded Booth in running Mazda from 2000 to 2002.

“Lewis Booth did an outstanding job,” said Krebs, who is basedin West Bloomfield, Michigan. “He cleaned up the mistakes of thepast and kept people on track and accountable. You can't argue withthe numbers or the course he helped put Ford on.”

In May of last year, Booth joined the board of British jetengine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc. Because of his Fordresponsibilities, Booth is not always able to attend the RollsRoyce board meetings, said the person.

Mulally also has the title of president. The executive hasn'tnamed a chief operating officer since arriving at Ford in September2006 from Boeing Co., where he headed that company's commercialaircraft operations.

Mulally hasn't said when he plans to retire and he denied areport in the Wall Street Journal last month that the board islooking outside the company for his replacement.

“Alan Mulally has made clear that he remains absolutely focusedon continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan and has noplans to leave anytime soon,” said Karen Hampton, a Fordspokeswoman.

Had Booth been younger, he would have been a leading candidatefor the CEO job, the person said. Booth has said he is at peacewith not getting the post.

“Everything I have is because of Ford Motor Company, and we gotpreciously close two years ago to losing it all,” Booth said in aninterview at the 2010 Paris auto show. “If between us all we canget this place straight, then we can retire in peace.”

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