Ford Executive Team Gets Shake-Up

2014 Ford Fusion

Ford has announced some major changes in its top leadership positions that will take affect on January 1st as they restructure their executive ranks. No less than three top executives will be bowing out on the first of the year.

J. Mays, Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, will be retiring after 33 years in the automotive industry. He spent 16 of those years with Ford and directed the styling of the new Ford Fusion. Mays also worked on the New Beetle at Volkswagen before he came to Ford.

He is being replaced by Moray Callum as Vice President of Design. Callum was formerly the Executive Director of Design.

Vice President of North American Manufacturing, Jim Tetreault, will also be retiring on January 1st. He’s been with Ford for 25 years and has worked on the expansion of several plants in order to meet increased demand for Ford vehicles in recent years.

Tetreault is being replaced by Bruce Hettle as North American Manufacturing Chief. He was formerly Executive Director, Global Vehicle Operations Manufacturing Engineering.

Last on the list is Marty Mulloy, Vice President of Labor Affairs, who is retiring after 34 years with Ford. He was in charge of contract negotiations in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

His replacement is going to be Bill Dirksen as Vice President of Labor Affairs. Like the other new appointments, he already has solid experience for his new position. Dirksen was formerly Executive Director of US Labor Affairs.

The one pending change in Ford’s executive team, and the one that’s been a source of constant debate and rumor, is the status of their CEO, John Mulally. He’s officially stated that he’ll be with the company through at least the end of 2014, but reports are that the board would be willing to accept his departure early.

Rumor has it that his replacement, when the time comes, will likely be current Chief Operating Officer, Mark Fields, but there’s nothing official from Ford on what’s going to happen on this front.

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.