Ford Chairman Bill Ford sells 1 mln Ford shares

DETROIT (Reuters) - Bill Ford, chairman of Ford Motor Co (F.N), has sold 1 million shares of common stock to pay down debt that he took on to exercise options and acquire stock in the automaker in 2004 and 2005.

Ford sold the shares at an average weighted sale price of $5.05 on Thursday and continues to hold more than 5.3 million shares of common stock in the automaker, according to a filing on Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ford, whose great grandfather founded the company in 1903, served as chief executive from 2001 until Alan Mulally was named chief executive in 2006. Ford was compensated as CEO in shares and stock options.

The automaker, which posted $8.6 billion of losses over the first half of 2008, is shifting some truck production in North America to build more cars in response to increased demand for more fuel efficient vehicles.

The stock sale was conducted during a short window of opportunity afforded to company directors and officers, company spokesman Mark Truby said, describing the decision as "a personal financial planning decision."

The stock sale had no impact on the Ford family's 3.8 million shares of Class B voting stock that gives it roughly a 40 percent voting interest in the company, Truby said.

Ford bought more than 1.4 million Ford common shares in March 2004 and another 1.5 million in March 2005 after exercising options granted over the years, according to SEC filings. He has made many other smaller stock purchases.

(Reporting by David Bailey, editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Bernard Orr)