J Mays is working to reach a position of power within Ford Motor Co. that no chief designer has held since the legendary Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell at General Motors decades ago.
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When Ford announced last month that Mays would guide Ford global design London, the general perception was that he was being bypassed in favour of other designers within Ford.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. While he enjoys living in London for professional and personal reasons, Mays has also assumed the title of CCO, or chief creative officer. The position gives Mays even stronger influence in a vast area of activities he is already involved in, including product planning and – indirectly – advertising and marketing.
“It is an expanded role,” says Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Flake. “He will work with all brands to create design visions reaching even further out.”
In an internal e-mail sent to Ford design employees, Mays says he will work to set the direction “on how each brand and its design strategy will evolve over the next 10 years and beyond.”
The position could eventually give Mays power within Ford that rivals the influence of the renowned GM chief designers Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell.
Over two decades each, the pair exercised their power between 1937 and 1977 to make far-reaching decisions on new vehicles and influence GM’s way of doing business.
Mays has been Ford chief designer since 1997. He has been criticized for a lack of consistency in the design of vehicles conceived under his leadership. They include designs as diverse as the retro GT, the thoroughly modern F-150 pickup truck, and the bland, Passat-like Five Hundred sedan.
Some cars were smash hits, such as the new Mustang.
He also played a strong role in unifying the corporate identity of the company. A former journalism student, Mays is admired for his professionalism in dealing with the media.
Mays will be working from the former Ingeni studio in London, once used to explore forward-looking design trends outside the automotive sector. Ford closed it in January 2004 after just 17 months in operation, but has kept the building.
