Ford Motor Corp

Ford Motor Corp. has named Mark Fields, the chief of its North American business, as the automaker's new chief operating officer and handed him responsibility for the day-to-day operations of its global business. The announcement Thursday by Executive Chairman Bill Ford was designed to quell speculation about the future of the automaker's chief executive, Alan Mulally. Mulally, 67, is credited with restructuring the company's operations and guiding it through the recession without the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group.

Ford Motor Corp. has named Mark Fields, the chief of its North American business, as the automaker's new chief operating officer and handed him responsibility for the day-to-day operations of its global business. The announcement Thursday by Executive Chairman Bill Ford was designed to quell speculation about the future of the automaker's chief executive, Alan Mulally. Mulally, 67, is credited with restructuring the company's operations and guiding it through the recession without the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group.

Since Loral Corp. announced last month that it was buying Ford Aerospace here, Julio Sierra has heard nothing but rumors that the sale somehow involved pension funds. The 61-year-old former marketing manager, who lives on a $2,500-a-month pension, is concerned that his good life will change. He worries that the deal will wreck his retirement. "I have a lot of questions," said Sierra, who worked at Ford for 26 years. But there have been few answers.

Investors continue to exhibit extraordinary skittishness over the financial condition of some of the nation's biggest companies. That was hammered home for two big names Tuesday: * Shares of TXU Corp., a major energy services company, plunged as much as 39% on liquidity concerns before trading was halted, and TXU made a statement saying that its financial condition is "strong." That helped the stock rebound, though it still closed down $5.46, or 24%, at $17.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Auto dealer Toshio Nakano's idea of a Hawaiian vacation isn't the typical tour of white sandy beaches and lush green golf courses. When he took 20 salesmen to Honolulu earlier this month, he put them in rented Ford cars and gave them a map of the island. Their assignment: to drive like Americans. Nakano is making sure the sales staff at his two Ford showrooms in Tokyo knows more than just the fuel economy, engine size and upholstery options for the Ford Mondeo sedan and Taurus station wagon.

When Toshiaki Yamamoto and his wife dropped by their neighborhood Ford dealer after a recent Sunday morning of golf, they were impressed with what they saw. "Before, I wasn't interested in American cars because they obviously were not fitted to Japanese road conditions," Yamamoto said. "They were too big for Japanese narrow streets, and the steering wheel was on the other side. . . .

With two major donations to local art museums in two months, Ford Motor Co.'s Irvine-based Lincoln is connecting with its artistic side. Lincoln has agreed to sponsor an upcoming exhibition, "American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age," opening May 26 at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. The car maker will underwrite $50,000 for the show.

Stepping up its campaign to be seen as a safe and environmentally sensitive truck builder, Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that it has developed a "mildly hybrid" propulsion system for its Explorer sport-utility and a suite of safety features that will be available on its entire SUV line by 2004. The Explorer, Ford's best-selling SUV, gets the safety package with the new 2002 model that will hit showrooms by early spring.

Ford Motor Co. said it's developing a hydrogen fuel-cell system to power the mid-size car it hopes to introduce in about 10 years. The auto maker is working with the Department of Energy to include fuel-cell technology in its previously announced P2000 program, which aims to build a low-polluting, Taurus-like sedan.

Ford Motor Co. said Monday that it will continue to match the 0% financing offered by General Motors Corp. and the U.S. arm of DaimlerChrysler, extending the deals on new cars and light trucks to Nov. 20. The program offers 36-month, no-interest loans on most 2001 and 2002 Ford-brand cars, pickups, sport-utility vehicles and minivans, matching similar deals on GM and Chrysler vehicles, which last week were extended to Nov. 18 and 19, respectively.

With two major donations to local art museums in two months, Ford Motor Co.'s Irvine-based Lincoln is connecting with its artistic side. Lincoln has agreed to sponsor an upcoming exhibition, "American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age," opening May 26 at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. The car maker will underwrite $50,000 for the show.

Ford Motor Co. is warning dealers and customers of a defect in the rear lift-gate on some 2002 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicles, dashing the car maker's hopes for a flawless launch of the redesigned models. Ford said Tuesday that the rear lift-gate glass on some new Explorers and Mountaineers may shatter or detach when shut.

Ford Motor Co. said it paid an average $6,700 in profit-sharing to U.S. hourly workers, down 16% from the record amount a year earlier. The average is second only to the $8,000 paid last year for 1999 in the 18 years that the Dearborn, Mich.-based auto maker has had profit-sharing, a company spokesman said. The payments for 2000, announced in January, go to about 110,000 workers and are based on U.S. profit and sales, excluding some nonautomotive units. Ford's earnings in 2000 fell 1.8% to $6.

Stepping up its campaign to be seen as a safe and environmentally sensitive truck builder, Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that it has developed a "mildly hybrid" propulsion system for its Explorer sport-utility and a suite of safety features that will be available on its entire SUV line by 2004. The Explorer, Ford's best-selling SUV, gets the safety package with the new 2002 model that will hit showrooms by early spring.

Stepping up its campaign to be seen as a safe and environmentally sensitive truck builder, Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it has developed a "mildly hybrid" propulsion system for its Explorer sport-utility and a suite of safety features that will be available on its entire SUV line by 2004. The Explorer, Ford's bestselling SUV, gets the safety package with the new 2002 model that will hit showrooms by early spring.

Ford Sued Over Alleged Part Defect: Lawyers nationwide have filed six lawsuits against Ford Motor Co., alleging that the auto maker hid a defect that can cause engines to suddenly quit in millions of cars and light trucks, exposing occupants to rear-end collisions and lethal failures of brakes and steering. In court filings, lawyers are asking for a recall of millions of vehicles with the alleged defect.

The test run by the California Highway Patrol to convert its fleet of black and white Ford pursuit cars to upscale Volvos has crashed. CHP Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick said the chief problem is that Volvo next year will stop making its S70 police sedan, the model the patrol has been road-testing since last summer. Volvo wants the CHP to buy station wagons instead. "We're not in the market for a station wagon. We're in the market for a sedan," Helmick said.

Ford Motor Co. will pay $3.8 million in a settlement with the Labor Department over charges of discrimination against women and minorities in hiring at seven of the auto maker's plants, federal officials said Friday. Ford has also agreed to hire 100 female and minority applicants who were turned down for entry-level assembly-line positions at the plants and will compensate other applicants for lost wages, as they are located.