Ford ‘likely to replace Mulally with Fields’
Ford Motor, the second-largest US car maker, will soon name Mark Fields as its next chief executive and reveal when current chief Alan Mulally will retire from the company he is credited with saving, according to two people familiar with the pending announcement. Mulally, 68, will step down before the end of the year and be succeeded by Fields, 53, now chief operating officer, according to the people, who asked not to be identified revealing internal plans. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company might announce the moves as soon as May 1, the people said. The transition will bring an end to a storied chapter in Ford’s history, in which the car maker narrowly avoided bankruptcy thanks to Mulally’s management and a bet-the-business $23 billion (R241bn) loan. Mulally signed off on the loan shortly after arriving from Boeing in 2006 and turned around the firm by slashing costs and overhauling its line-up with stylish, fuel-efficient models that have won over a new generation of drivers. Fields is a 25-year Ford veteran. – Bloomberg