The Ford Motor Company has announced that J Mays, group vice president and chief creative officer, Design, is retiring after more than 33 years in the automotive industry. In parallel, Moray Callum is elected a Ford Motor Company officer and named vice president, Design.
Throughout his 16-year career at Ford, Mays led development of the global Ford design language evident in most of the vehicles the company produces around the world. In particular, Mays led the teams that developed the design for the highly acclaimed Ford Fusion, Focus, Fiesta, Taurus, Mustang and F-150. He also was responsible for several significant concept vehicles, including the Ford Atlas, Evos, 427, Forty-Nine, Shelby GR-1, Lincoln MKZ and MKC.
Mays joined Ford in 1997 as vice president, Design. He was named group vice president in 2003 and one year later took on the expanded role of chief creative officer.
“The bold and sophisticated design language that J Mays pioneered will be visible for years to come in Ford vehicles and the auto industry overall,” said Mark Fields, Ford chief operating officer. “In addition to his talent as a world-class designer, J has brought together one of the most talented design teams in the business. We are grateful for his creativity and leadership and congratulate him on his retirement from Ford.”
Succeeding Mays is Moray Callum, currently executive director, Design, The Americas. He will report to Raj Nair, group vice president, Global Product Development.
Callum will lead the design of all concept and production vehicles for the Ford and Lincoln brands globally. Since 2006, Callum has had overall responsibility for the design of all cars and trucks designed in Ford’s North and South America studios and the new Lincoln products. His successes include the new Ford Fusion, Explorer, Mustang, EcoSport and Lincoln MKZ. Prior to that, Callum led Mazda’s design transformation from 2001 to 2006, based in Japan.
[Source: Ford]