Ford Confirms Fields as President, Next CEO

Ford Motor Co. has chosen Mark Fields, currently its chief operating officer, to become president and to succeed Alan Mulally as CEO. Both assignments will begin on July 1.

The assignment had been widely expected after Fields, 53, was promoted to COO from head of Ford's North American operations in December 2012. His COO position won't be filled.

Fields inherits a company dramatically transformed by Mulally, 68, whose future plans are unclear. Mulally, who also will relinquish his seat on the Ford board, arrived at the company from Boeing in 2006 as Ford, like its domestic rivals, was being hit with staggering losses.

To avoid bankruptcy, Mulally led a Ford plan to borrow $23 billion. The company's losses topped $30 billion between 2006 and 2008. But in the five years since then, Ford has earned more than $42 billion.

Mulally managed to break up fiefdoms at Ford by relentlessly pushing his "one Ford" mantra. He also pushed to streamline operations and fully integrate global product development and manufacturing.