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Ford adds 850 jobs to build 2015 F-150

Pickup trucks tend not to advance at quite the same pace as the rest of the industry. That's what makes the new Ford F-150 so remarkable, jettisoning its old steel construction in favor of aluminum. It's a game changer that Ford is betting big on, and in anticipation of surging demand, the Blue Oval automaker is adding 850 new jobs to put the thing together.
Those 850 new employees will be centered at Ford's Rouge complex in Michigan - with 300 at Dearborn Stamping, 50 more at Dearborn Diversified and 500 at the Dearborn Truck facility, the latter of which has already kicked off what Ford describes as "the largest manufacturing transformation in decades." Old manufacturing equipment is being replaced with the latest technologies, and even the Ford Rouge Factory Tour is undergoing a complete overhaul.
The new jobs come as part of the commitments Ford made to the UAW in 2011 to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the United States by 2015 - a number which Ford has already exceeded at 14,000. Over 4,000 of those are centered in southeastern Michigan.

Ford to announce Mulally retirement, Fields CEO as early as May 1

Ford CEO Alan Mulally may be about to announce his long-rumored retirement from the Blue Oval, according to a pair of insiders who spoke to Bloomberg. An official statement on the succession could arrive as soon as May 1. Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields is rumored to step up as the new CEO. The company is said to be readying the announcement soon to ensure an orderly transition of power, according to the insiders.
Mulally's retirement from Ford has been a hot topic for a while. He was seriously rumored last year to be leaving the automaker to take over as the CEO of Microsoft. The board even said at one point that it was okay with them if he stepped down early. However, the CEO maintained he would stay with the business through at least the end of 2014. Fields has been rumored as a frontrunner to take over the top spot at the company since he was promoted to COO.
For the moment, Ford isn't officially confirming any of these plans. "We don't comment on speculation. We do have succession plans in place for our key leadership. We take succession planning very seriously," said Susan Krusel, Ford Global News Manager, to Autoblog.

Ford Escort returns... as a concept

Ford is kickin' it old school at the Shanghai Motor Show for 2013 with a new Escort Concept - "a name that stirs up thoughts of basic, affordable transportation rather than great driving dynamics or bold design" as we said in our initial preview of the small C-segment sedan. Or, as Ford puts it, "Customers in China described seeking a vehicle that is stylish - but not one that is arrogant or pretentious." Potato, potahto...
It's an interesting amalgam of design notes with Ford's recent and stylish hexagonal grille up front, flanked by some pretty busy LED light clusters and chrome-trimmed air intakes at the lower extremities of the fascia, but the Escort Concept is not altogether unattractive. Besides its external appearance, we really don't have much information to report - Ford has not yet hinted at what may be powering this little machine, but we'd expect something with four cylinders and less that 2.0 liters of displacement sending a modest number of horses to the front tires.
It probably goes without saying, but we don't expect to see this Escort make its way to the United States, since we already have the Focus and the Fiesta battling it out in the econobox segment. That said, it's very likely to spawn a production model that will roll out here in China and in other developing market where multiple C-segment entries are becoming increasingly common. Check out our high-res image gallery of live images above, and let us know what you think of the car's styling, then scroll down below for the official press release.