Auto industry experts and the general public are agreed on one thing: Ford Motor Company is on a roll.

So it is unsurprising that the prestigious 2011 Automotive Executive of the Year Award will be presented to Alan R. Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. Mulally will receive his award at an invitation-only luncheon, which is to be held at the Detroit Athletic Club on April 13. But while the award is unsurprising in the current context, it may come as a substantial shock to those who were skeptical that an aeronautics executive could find success as the head of a major auto manufacturer.

When Mulally took the top seat as Ford’s CEO and president in September 2006, there were plenty who doubted his abilities. Despite their uncertainties, however, Mulally steered Ford on a course that avoided the bankruptcy that befell rivals General Motors and Chrysler.

“Alan Mulally shows such clear confidence in his company, its people, its products and its brand,” says Robert Djurovic, the executive director of the Automotive Executive of the Year Award program and the director of automotive services North America for DNV Business Assurance. “With his leadership and conviction, Ford Motor Company stood apart from its competitors by standing on its own two feet. And the U.S. consumer, inspired by his quiet confidence and strong belief that Ford Motor Company could manage its own recovery without taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, got behind him, cheered him on and bought Ford cars.”

Prior to joining Ford in September 2006, Mulally served as executive vice president of The Boeing Company, as well as president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In those roles, he was responsible for all of the company’s commercial-airplane programs and related services. After essentially spending his entire prior career at Boeing, there was little to suggest that Mulally would so quickly grasp the intricacies of running a global vehicle-manufacturing and -marketing company. While Boeing does manufacture airplanes on a global scale, it does not sell to the consumer, so Mulally was required to turn his managerial skills in a new direction -- and so far he has succeeded admirably.

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