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It's Official: Ford Names Mark Fields Its Next CEO

Alan Mulally, the man who transformed Ford Motor Co. from a dysfunctional money-loser to a thriving company, will retire July 1 and be replaced by Mark Fields, the current chief operating officer. During his eight-year tenure at Ford, Mulally gambled all of the company's assets on a credit line that kept Ford out of bankruptcy, then used a simple "One Ford" plan to change the company's culture. He was hired away from aircraft maker Boeing Co. in 2006 by Bill Ford, who at the time was running the company. Fields, 53, has been in charge of Ford's daily operations since December of 2012 and was widely expected to one day ascend to the top job. The change in leadership is taking place about six months ahead of schedule, but Ford said that was based on Mulally's recommendation that the new leaders were ready. "Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and now is the time to begin the transition," Bill Ford said in a statement Thursday morning. Bill Ford, the company's executive chairman, is the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. Mulally, 68, was trained as an aeronautical engineer. He spent 36 years at Boeing - and was president of the company's commercial airplane division - when Bill Ford lured him to the struggling automaker eight years ago. Mulally overcame skepticism about being an outsider in the insular ranks of Detroit car guys by quickly pinpointing the reasons why Ford was losing billions each year. Mulally put a stop to the infighting that had paralyzed the company and instituted weekly management meetings where executives faced new levels of accountability and were encouraged to work together to solve problems. It took two years for Mulally to turn the company around, but since 2009, Ford has posted pretax profits of $34.5 billion and its shares have more than doubled. Fields was one of the executives passed over when Mulally got the top job in 2006. When he was named COO in 2012, Bill Ford said Fields' decision to stay at Ford and learn from Mulally showed a lot of fortitude and has made Fields a better leader. "There was a lot of speculation about whether he was capable. To his great credit, he stuck to it, he learned from it and showed tremendous fortitude in grinding through an incredibly difficult process," Bill Ford said. This marks the second change in leadership at the top of one of the Detroit automakers this year.

Most American Cars | Honda Makes the Top 10 List

The car built with the most American/Canadian parts content is the 2021 Ford Mustang GT – with the manual transmission, specifically, no less – giving Ford a second consecutive year atop the American University Kogod Business School annual "Made in America Auto Index. We already knew that it doesn't get much more American than a V8 pony car, but now we've got the numbers to prove it.  Ford's iconic coupe takes the number one slot pretty convincingly this year, with 88.5% of its components coming from U.S. or Canadian sources. Appropriately, though perhaps confusingly, 21 models made the top 10 list in 2021. As you may have surmised, this is the result of multiple ties. Note also that many models appear more than once to account for variants built with parts from different sources. The top-ranked Mustang is a perfect example; The automatic drops into into a tie for 10th, right next to the EcoBoost model and Ram's 1500 Classic with the 3.6L V6.  The "America" theme runs pretty strongly through the top "10," with the Chevrolet Corvette sitting pretty in second place, followed by all three variants of Tesla's Model 3 electric car. Honda also makes several appearances thanks to its rather significant U.S. manufacturing footprint. Here are the 21 vehicles that make up the top 10 this year – don't worry, it feels just as weird to type as it does to read. Last year's winner, the midsize Ford Ranger pickup, cratered to 16th place, dropping from 70% American parts content to just 45%. Keep in mind, however, that the pandemic has forced automakers to source parts outside of their normal supply chains, and such drops should be taken with a grain of salt. Kogod noted that the overall proportions of content between manufacturers remained relatively unchanged despite what appear to be significant shake-ups such as this one.  "While the trend TDC for cars assembled in the US is consistent over time, both Daimler and Subaru saw significant drops in their average US content," the summary said. "This may be the result of US shortages of parts and components as the impacts of the covid pandemic created significant disruptions in automotive supply chains." Watch Ford Build a Bronco: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Autoblog's June 2019 Editors' Picks

Each year we review, test and rate hundreds of brand-new cars, trucks and SUVs. We rate these vehicles using the Autoblog score, giving a select few our Editors’ Pick. Here are the best cars we drove in June 2019. 2019 BMW 8 Series Everyone on the Autoblog staff loves a good grand tourer, so we were excited to get behind the wheel of the revived BMW 8 Series, specifically an M850i Coupe. A good GT needs to be as fast as it is stylish and comfortable, and the new 8 Series delivers. We particularly like the 523-horsepower twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8Â’s copious power and smooth ride quality, even on MichiganÂ’s pockmarked post-winter roads. We dig the interior design, too, though not everyone was in love with the exterior. ItÂ’s not the best-handling car in its class, and doesnÂ’t hide its sizable proportions very well, but itÂ’s still worth a look if youÂ’re looking for a big, fast cruiser.  2019 Ford Expedition Crossovers may be the hottest vehicles on the market, but thereÂ’s still a sizable demand for traditional body-on-frame SUVs like the Ford Expedition. These behemoths offer plenty of space in addition to truck-like capability. We like the Expedition's smooth ride, powerful twin-turbo V6 and sharp exterior design, though the interior can feel a bit cheap, especially on some of the more expensive trims. Adding options quickly puts it into Lincoln Navigator territory, and itÂ’s hard to recommend the Ford over the Lincoln when the latter packs the same capability into a far nicer package. Still, the Expedition is as good or better than the competition in most respects, and thatÂ’s why itÂ’s one of our picks. 2019 Toyota 86 Few cars at any price point are as much fun as the Toyota 86 (and its twin, the Subaru BRZ). We like the 86Â’s balanced chassis and sharp steering, and while itÂ’s not as nimble as its close rival the Mazda MX-5 Miata, the ToyotaÂ’s back seat and trunk make it a more usable vehicle. But while we like the 86Â’s driving position, the rest of the interior feels cheap and dated, especially the infotainment system. We complained about the anemic powertrain back in 2012, and itÂ’s only gotten worse as the years have gone by.