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It's Official: Ford Names Mark Fields Its Next CEO

Alan Mulally, the man who transformed Ford Motor Co. from a dysfunctional money-loser to a thriving company, will retire July 1 and be replaced by Mark Fields, the current chief operating officer. During his eight-year tenure at Ford, Mulally gambled all of the company's assets on a credit line that kept Ford out of bankruptcy, then used a simple "One Ford" plan to change the company's culture. He was hired away from aircraft maker Boeing Co. in 2006 by Bill Ford, who at the time was running the company. Fields, 53, has been in charge of Ford's daily operations since December of 2012 and was widely expected to one day ascend to the top job. The change in leadership is taking place about six months ahead of schedule, but Ford said that was based on Mulally's recommendation that the new leaders were ready. "Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and now is the time to begin the transition," Bill Ford said in a statement Thursday morning. Bill Ford, the company's executive chairman, is the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. Mulally, 68, was trained as an aeronautical engineer. He spent 36 years at Boeing - and was president of the company's commercial airplane division - when Bill Ford lured him to the struggling automaker eight years ago. Mulally overcame skepticism about being an outsider in the insular ranks of Detroit car guys by quickly pinpointing the reasons why Ford was losing billions each year. Mulally put a stop to the infighting that had paralyzed the company and instituted weekly management meetings where executives faced new levels of accountability and were encouraged to work together to solve problems. It took two years for Mulally to turn the company around, but since 2009, Ford has posted pretax profits of $34.5 billion and its shares have more than doubled. Fields was one of the executives passed over when Mulally got the top job in 2006. When he was named COO in 2012, Bill Ford said Fields' decision to stay at Ford and learn from Mulally showed a lot of fortitude and has made Fields a better leader. "There was a lot of speculation about whether he was capable. To his great credit, he stuck to it, he learned from it and showed tremendous fortitude in grinding through an incredibly difficult process," Bill Ford said. This marks the second change in leadership at the top of one of the Detroit automakers this year.

Ford Detroit stand map clearest evidence yet of new GT, Mustang GT350R, SVT Raptor

An anonymous tipster has leaked a map of Ford's display stand plans for next week's Detroit Auto Show, and the schematic contains some interesting details that supports the idea of a Ford GT revival, as well as the presence of the rumored Shelby Mustang GT350R and F-150 SVT Raptor. The map, used by workers to help erect the Blue Oval's Cobo Hall display, maps out a show with a performance-heavy influence, with a codenamed vehicle, "Phoenix" sitting front and center, flanked by "Hummingbird 2" and "F-150 SVT Raptor Teaser." Our sources within Ford have confirmed that Phoenix is the long-rumored GT successor (a notion furthered by the presence of a pair of historic GT40s shown near the display entrance), and Hummingbird 2 refers to the GT350R (note also that there's a "Mustang Historic" GT350R on its own dais nearby). We've also learned that while the Raptor is labeled "Teaser," our Ford source assures us this is effectively the production truck. Rumors of a neo Ford GT have been picking up speed for months now, and we've been led to believe that this new car will have motorsports applications firmly on its mind, but it won't follow in the same retro-steeped design footsteps of its 2005-2006 forbearer. While the map does show Focus models on display, including the performance-oriented ST, we note that there isn't a spot seemingly earmarked for the rumored next-generation Focus RS, which has been the subject of the Motown rumormill for some time. Instead, we expect to see Ford's hottest hatch bow at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Even without a Focus RS revival, the Ford stand is shaping up to be a high-performance, high-horsepower showing, and we're excited to see if the Blue Oval can steal the show come Monday. Featured Gallery Ford Detroit Auto Show Stand 2015 Tip: mlewis Auto News Detroit Auto Show Ford Truck Coupe Concept Cars Future Vehicles Off-Road Vehicles Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars ford f-150 svt raptor 2015 Detroit Auto Show ford shelby mustang gt350r

Autocar pits Formula Ford against Germany's finest

Ford has quite the racing pedigree, but usually, its racers are relegated to the track. Not the new Formula Ford EcoBoost, though. It's a turbocharged, open-wheeled racer complete with a 200-horsepower, 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine... and it's legal on the roads of the UK.
That's stressed in this video from Autocar, with the mag going so far as to show the car's tax disc and license plates. Being a road-legal offering, it's tempting to see just how well an open-wheeler that delivers racecar-like performance while also netting over 100 miles per gallon (assume this is on the British cycle, for obvious reasons) stacks up against modern performance cars.
Autocar lined up the Formula Ford against an Audi R8 V10, a BMW M6 Gran Coupe and a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG in a number of situations to see which would come out on top. Take a look below for the full video.