Whatever the motivation, the departure of Barry Engle, 44, appears to be for personal reasons and not business related.

Engle, a Pennsylvania native, will return to New Holland, Pa., with his wife and six children to take over the reins of New Holland Agricultural Equipment SpA, a unit of farm equipment giant CNH Global NV.

His last day at Ford will be Sept. 8.

Ford said a replacement will be announced later.

"Leading Ford of Canada has been one of the best experiences of my career and it's very difficult to leave a team that is so committed to its customers and to building future success," Engle said in a press release by Ford.

During Engle's tenure, Ford Motor Co has been restructuring and streamlining jobs to deal with a sales slump and rising competition from Japanese rivals.

Most recently, Ford of Canada retreated on its plans to add a third shift at the Oakville assembly plant to build the crossovers MKS, Edge and Flex models.

That decision left 350 new recruits without jobs, since the decision was made just prior to training.