Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Names New European Head

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has appointed Stephen Odell, former CEO of Volvo, as the new head of Ford’s European business.

Current European head John Fleming, who will be succeeded by Odell, will shift focus manage the company’s manufacturing and labor affairs, said the Dearborn, Michigan- based carmaker said in a statement today. The company also announced that Jim Farley would take on an expanded role as Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F)’s global chief for marketing, sales and service.

“These moves allow us to strengthen our global team as we accelerate our One Ford plan and continue to profitably grow, serving our customers around the world,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in the statement.

Ford of Europe reported a 17% decline in sales for the month of June as the end of government scrapping schemes cut demand for many of the company’s vehicles. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F)’s market share declined by 1.2% to 7.8%. Ford also predicts that industry-wide European auto sales will drop from 15.9 million units in 2009 to 14 million in 2010.

Geely is purchasing Volvo from Ford for 1.8 billion, the largest overseas purchase by a Chinese auto manufacture. Separately, Geely said that Li Shufu will become chairman of Volvo and that Hans-Olov Olsson will be vice chairman. Neither company has named a new CEO for Volvo. Some expect that Volkswagen AG is negotiating with current U.S. head Stefan Jacoby over terms for a departure so that he might be able to begin as Volvo’s new CEO, according to media reports.

Odell, age 55, was named the head of Volvo in September 2008, becoming the fourth leader of the company since Ford purchased Volvo Cars in 199 for $6.5 billion.