Ford has named J Mays group vice president of design, from August 1. Mays, 48, will report to chief operating officer Nick Scheele. His responsibilities will include leading the design of new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products and he also has design responsibilities for products from Ford of Europe, Premier Automotive Group and Mazda.

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Mays had been a vice president reporting to group vice president of product development and chief technical officer Richard Parry-Jones.

Mays joined Ford in 1997 as vice president of design and he has overseen the development of the 2004 Ford F-150 light truck line just being launched now, the upcoming Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans and the future 2005 Ford Freestyle, Ford Five Hundred sedan, GT and Mustang.

Mays has also led the development of concept vehicles including the Ford Forty-Nine and ‘427’ sedans, Mustang GT concepts, Jaguar F-Type and Volvo Safety Car Concept.

Prior to joining Ford, Mays held various design positions at Audi, BMW and Volkswagen of America.

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