Ford to sack CEO and senior bosses in new push to build self-driving cars

Ford is to install the head of its driverless cars division as chief executive, as the company that pioneered the assembly line looks to the next stage of the industry's evolution. The Detroit-based carmaker is expected to sack the chief executive, Mark Fields, and overhaul its senior management team, according to a report from Forbes. The reported changes come amid growing misgivings among investors about the company's recent financial performance and its future prospects. Fields will be replaced by Jim Hackett, who runs the "smart mobility" unit that houses Ford's autonomous vehicle projects and is said to be highly rated by executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. Ford's shares have fallen by 37% during Fields' tenure,and has now been overtaken in stock market value by newcomer Tesla, which specialises in electric cars and is testing driverless vehicles. The 114-year-old company has also been outpaced by traditional rivals such as General Motors, which posted rising first-quarter profit earlier this year, even as Ford's own earnings slumped. Hackett's appointment indicates a firmer commitment to driverless vehicles from the company whose founder Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line production method that dominated the 20th century.