Mark Fields To Replace Alan Mulally, As Ford CEO: We Wish Him Mazel Tov

Mark Fields, Ford Group VP Derrek Kuzak, Bill Ford Jr., Alan Mulally

Two of the most reliable reporters on the automotive beat, Karl Henkel and David Shepardson of the Detroit News, have reported that their sources confirm that Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally will step down later this year and that Mark Fields, Ford’s chief operating officer, will be named to the CEO position. Earlier on Monday, Bloomberg News reported that Ford “may announce the moves as soon as May 1.” Ford’s annual corporate meeting is scheduled for May 8 in Delaware, with the FoMoCo board of directors meeting the prior day. Mulally, 68, has been with Ford since 2006 and he’s generally credited with successfully guiding the automaker through the troubled waters that brought crosstown rivals General Motors and Chrysler to bankruptcy and a government bailout.

The move is seen by most as a formality and that Fields, 53, has been assured of replacing Mulally since he was promoted from President of the Americas to COO in late 2012. Mulally has previously said publicly that he plans to remain as Ford’s CEO through at least 2014. Other than a stint at IBM, Fields has been at Ford for most of his adult life, having joined the company 25 years ago.

A Ford Motor Company spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the reports.

So that’s the boilerplate news. In the background of the story, though…

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  • Jeff I do think this is a good thing. Teaching salespeople how to interact with the customer and teaching them some of the features and technical stuff of the vehicles is important.
  • MKizzy If Tesla stops maintaining and expanding the Superchargers at current levels, imagine the chaos as more EV owners with high expectations visit crowded and no longer reliable Superchargers.It feels like at this point, Musk is nearly bored enough with Tesla and EVs in general to literally take his ball and going home.
  • Incog99 I bought a brand new 4 on the floor 240SX coupe in 1989 in pearl green. I drove it almost 200k miles, put in a killer sound system and never wish I sold it. I graduated to an Infiniti Q45 next and that tank was amazing.
  • CanadaCraig As an aside... you are so incredibly vulnerable as you're sitting there WAITING for you EV to charge. It freaks me out.
  • Wjtinfwb My local Ford dealer would be better served if the entire facility was AI. At least AI won't be openly hostile and confrontational to your basic requests when making or servicing you 50k plus investment and maybe would return a phone call or two.