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What next for Alan Mulally?

Alan Mulally has emerged as a hero when it comes to American manufacturing. He came to Ford in 2006 after serving as head of Boeing's commercial aircraft division, streamlined operations, sold off the costly elements of its Premier Automotive Group and saved Ford from having to be bailed out by the federal government like its cross-town rivals Chrysler and General Motors did. But as we reported mere days ago, he's widely expected to step down from the chief executive's office at Ford shortly.
So what's next for one of the most successful executives in the business? Hard to say, but don't expect Mulally to disappear into retirement. Though he didn't ultimately take the top job at Microsoft, industry insiders expect to see him in another influential position - likely as a board director or even chairman of another company. (We say "another company" and not Ford because while Bill Ford may have stepped aside as CEO to bring Mulally on board in the first place, we don't see him giving up his chairmanship of the board also.)
Mulally has likely already lined up his next move, and could either announce what that move will be as soon as Ford confirms Mark Fields as his successor, or could wait awhile. Insiders speculate that he could leverage his transportation and aerospace experience into a position at General Electric or a major airline, his manufacturing expertise to benefit a company like Procter & Gamble or his management skills at a consultancy firm.

Ford hiring 800 more salaried workers than originally expected

Ford is on a roll this year, with excellent quarterly earnings and better-than-expected vehicle sales leading to 800 more job opportunities with the Blue Oval. In January, Ford announced that it wanted to hire 2,200 salaried employees, but, since then, that figure has been revised to 3,000, representing a 36-percent increase over original projections. About 1,500 of those jobs remain, 80 percent of which are technical professional positions.
"Engineers and technical professionals are in as much demand as our cars, trucks and SUVs," says Felicia Fields, Ford Group Vice President for Human Resources. Helping to spur this job growth are increasing market share on both the West and East Coast and robust demand for the Ford Escape and F-150.
To find job candidates, Ford is reaching out to them via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in addition to the company's corporate career site. The Blue Oval is also ramping up its presence on college campuses.

Watch how Ken Block spent his weekend in Barbados

Regardless of what you think of his skill as a racer, Ken Block is an expert showman. At this point, he has a career of showing up around the world to do vehicular stunts, and he's still able to go racing as well. It's a pretty sweet niche to carve out. Recently, Block was in Barbados to participate in Top Gear Live and the first event of the Global Rallycross Championship season, and Ford Racing produced a short video to show off his exploits.
It looked like a great show. Block got to race Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes-Benz Formula One car and had a very weird crash during a Rallycross race that put his Ford Fiesta on its roof. Top Gear also released an extended look at Block and Hamilton's spectacle with the two of them expertly sliding around. Scroll down to watch the videos and get a taste of Block's tropical racing adventure.