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Edsel discontinues Ford
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April 9, 1998: 3:12 p.m. ET
Great-grandson of Henry Ford will resign as president of Ford Credit
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DEARBORN, Mich. (CNNfn) - Edsel B. Ford II, a member of the founding family of Ford Motor Co., is resigning as president of Ford Credit, the company said Thursday.
Edsel Ford, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, said in a statement he will remain on Ford's board of directors and will act as a consultant to the company and step up his community affairs activities.
As head of Ford Credit, he held the highest-ranking operational role in Ford Motor Co. of any member of the Ford family.
"I'm at a point in my career when my age and nearly 25 years of service, the responsibility of the Ford name, and my father's legacy in Southeast Michigan community affairs, puts me at a crossroads," Edsel Ford said.
The 49-year-old executive will leave as president of Ford Credit on May 1 after seven years in the post. No successor has been named. He will move to the company's headquarters and consult on issues affecting Ford's 10,500 dealers.
Edsel Ford serves on the board of directors' finance committee. He will also join the board's organization review and nominating committee as an outside board member after he retires from Ford Credit.
The son of Henry Ford II, Edsel Ford started his career at the company in 1974 as a product planning analyst. He later worked at Ford of Australia and held marketing and sales positions for the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury divisions.
Edsel Ford's tenure as president of Ford Credit was marked by a number of company milestones, including the establishment of Ford Credit Europe PLC -- the first pan-European bank -- and aggressive expansion throughout Asia, Latin America and both western and eastern Europe.
The company also augmented its traditional dealer financing business through the creation of the Primus program while broadening its range of financial services by branching into non-automotive commercial lending.
In 1997, Ford Credit operated eight million customer accounts in 35 countries, the company said.
Two other Fords, William Clay Ford and his son William (Bill) Clay Ford Jr., also serve on the company's board.
Ford family members control 40 percent of the automaker's voting stock (F), which was up 2-1/2 at 47 in afternoon trading Thursday on the New York stock exchange. Analysts did not attribute the stock activity to the resignation. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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