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Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier

Ford's board is open to CEO Alan Mulally stepping down before his planned departure in 2014, inside sources are telling Reuters. Ford's plan of succession, aside from who would be his actual successor, has been something approaching common knowledge - the 68-year-old former Boeing exec had plans to stay through 2014. This was recently confirmed by Mulally himself on Bloomberg Television and in Automotive News.
Motivation for the about-face comes from what Reuters calls a "growing confidence" in the current crop of Ford execs, led by Mark Fields. Fields, Ford's current chief operating officer, has been tipped as Mulally's ultimate successor, although he's far from the only person with eyes on Ford's top job. Normally, Ford's board saying they're open to an executive, that's done very well for the company, stepping down early would be nearly unremarkable. It's the timing of this announcement, though, that makes this a big piece of news.
Recently, Mulally has been the subject of rumors that he's interested in taking the CEO position at tech giant Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington-based company's CEO, Steve Ballmer, told the media in August that he'd be retiring in a year's time. The fires were stoked when tech website AllThingsD speculated that Mulally would take the top spot, despite denials from the man himself. Could Ford's current boss become the new top dog at Microsoft? Will Mark Fields replace him? Could recently departed Renault exec Carlos Tavares land at Ford in some capacity? Let us know what you think below in Comments.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E, Volvo XC40 Recharge score high in IIHS tests

New electric cars continue their streak of impressive crash test results. The two latest to go through Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing are the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E and the 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge. The former earned a Top Safety Pick award, and the latter picked up the Top Safety Pick+ commendation. Both vehicles got the top "Good" rating in every crash test, as well as the "Superior" rating for vehicle-to-vehicle collision prevention. They deviate when it comes to headlights and vehicle-to-pedestrian collision prevention. Because the Volvo has headlights rated "Good" on all trims, it got that extra "+" on its Top Safety Pick award. The Ford also has high-rated headlights available, but the standard units got the second lowest rating of "Marginal." As for the vehicle-to-pedestrian collision prevention, the Volvo received the second-highest "Advanced" rating, while the Ford was rated "Superior." Among the electric cars IIHS has tested, the Ford and Volvo continue a streak of high scores. The organization has evaluated the Audi E-Tron in both its body styles, as well as the Tesla Model 3, both of which get the Top Safety Pick+ rating. As a result of the XC40 Recharge's test score, Volvo pointed out that it is the only automaker whose entire lineup has received a Top Safety Pick+ rating. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.  

What's in a trademark? Sometimes, the next iconic car name

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is a treasure trove for auto enthusiasts, especially those who double as conspiracy theorists.
Why has Toyota applied to trademark "Supra," the name of one of its legendary sports cars, even though it hasn't sold one in the United States in 16 years? Why would General Motors continue to register "Chevelle" long after one of the most famous American muscle cars hit the end of the road? And what could Chrysler possibly do with the rights to "313," the area code for Detroit?