A media report suggesting that Ford’s board of directors will meet this week to consider a succession plan for the top job at Ford has set Detroit tongues wagging. The hotly tipped successor to Alan Mulally is Mark Fields.

Bloomberg reported that Mark Fields, head of Ford’s operations in North and South America, could be promoted to chief operating officer (COO), a move that would put him in line to replace current chief executive Alan Mulally, 67, who is expected to step down at the end of 2013.

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Alan Mulally axed the COO role when he took the Ford CEO position in 2006 after Bill Ford declared that he wanted a CEO from outside the company. Ex-Boeing exec Mulally has since guided the company through recession and restored it to profitability on the back of the ‘One Ford’ business strategy that saw Ford divest its premium brands and concentrate on the Ford brand.

Fields has long been seen by many as the front-runner for the top job when Mulally leaves.

From the archive: Interview with Mark Fields

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