NEW YORK -- In his senior thesis at Princeton University many years ago, William Clay Ford Jr. defended his great-grandfather Henry Ford's hard-nosed stand against unionism in the 1930s.
Now, the scion of the world's most famous automotive family may be headed for his own showdown with the United Auto Workers, and analysts question whether he has the toughness to follow in the founder's footsteps.
Mr. Ford reluctantly took over the chief executive officer's job at Ford Motor Company four years ago during a previous financial crisis.
Faced with deepening losses at its North American operations, the company yesterday announced plans to shut 14 North American plants and cut as many as 30,000 positions in the next four years.
More Report on Business Stories
The 48-year-old executive found himself berated from two sides -- from union leaders who complain the plan is too painful, and from industry analysts who insist it does not go far enough.
In announcing the restructuring yesterday, Mr. Ford insisted that the plant closings and job losses were only part of the solution to the company's difficulties in the North American market, where it has seen its market share drop precipitously.
He acknowledged the company must shed its plodding style and become far more innovative in order to start making cars that North American drivers will want to buy, with a cost structure that allows it to compete with foreign auto makers.
"My great-grandfather once said of the first car he ever built: 'If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse,' " Mr. Ford told a news conference in Detroit.
"At Ford, we're going to figure out what people want before they even know it -- and then we're going to give it to them. It's where we began and it's where we must go."
The call to innovation isn't new for Mr. Ford, who has become the public face of the company as a result of a series of television ads in which he invokes his great-grandfather's legacy. He has promoted the use of hybrid vehicles and promised to increase production, though environmentalists note the company has continued to rely on more profitable SUVs even as gasoline prices rose.
Mr. Ford has said that he never intended to become chief executive officer of the company.
After graduating from Princeton, he worked in a series of mid-level management positions before joining the board in 1988, and became non-executive chairman in 1999.
In 2001, the board persuaded him to take over from Jacques Nasser, who led the company to a $5.5-billion (U.S.) loss that year. Mr. Ford said at the time that he was reluctant to give up time with his four children, but took on the position out of a "sense of responsibility."
Despite the company's return to overall profitability, critics question whether he wants too much to be liked, whether he is willing to face down the union over job-security issues and to take a tougher stand on wages and benefits that Wall Street insists are uncompetitive.
"Bill Ford is a really nice guy -- an ethical, straightforward, stand-up guy," said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland who follows the industry.
"Unfortunately, he does not want to make the tough choices that are required to put this company back on the right track."
29