In May 2017, Ford announced that it had replaced its CEO, Mark Fields, who had been with the company since 1989, with Jim Hackett. Despite being on Ford's board since 2013, Hackett was probably best known for leading Steelcase, the large office-furniture company, for decades and turning around its fortunes, as well as for working with the University of Michigan to bring NFL coach Jim Harbaugh to the school. Other than the fact that all these things are based in Michigan, there wasn't really much that pointed to Hackett as the person who would lead the 114-year-old company into the future. But his first few months at the helm have cemented his vision for Ford. Earlier this month he released a treatise doubling down on the company's commitment to autonomous vehicles and the loosely defined concept of "mobility" and the "transport operating system" of the future.

FILE - In this April 12, 2017 file photo, Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Mark Fields speaks during a media preview of the 2018 Lincoln Navigator at the New York International Auto Show in New York. Ford is replacing its CEO amid questions about its current performance and future strategy, a person familiar with the situation has said. Fields will be replaced by Jim Hackett, who joined Ford's board in 2013. FILE - In this April 12, 2017 file photo, Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Mark Fields speaks during a media preview of the 2018 Lincoln Navigator at the New York International Auto Show in New York. Ford is replacing its CEO amid questions about its current performance and future strategy, a person familiar with the situation has said.

Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce on Monday the replacement of President and CEO Mark Fields with board member Jim Hackett. Hackett is also head of the company's smart mobility unit, which is focused on its ride-hailing and car-sharing efforts. According to several reports, the move is due to the automaker's recent disappointing profits and stock price, which has dropped nearly 40 percent since Fields took over in 2014. Fields, 56, has worked at the company for 28 years, and previously served as CEO of then Ford-owned Mazda, and president of The Americas. Ford has not officially confirmed Field's departure, and issued a statement to Automotive News that said, "we are staying focused on our plan for creating value and profitable growth.

This article was originally published at 9:30 p.m.

Ford Motor Co. is investing $1 billion in a months-old startup founded by two pioneers in the nascent autonomous vehicle sector. The Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence company Argo AI will develop the brains -- specifically, a virtual driver system -- for the fully autonomous vehicles Ford has promised to bring to market in 2021. Founders Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander are former leaders of the self-driving car teams at Uber Technologies Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google. "This is a unique partnership," Mark Fields, Ford's chief executive officer, said in an interview. "A lot of tech companies are looking for customers and a lot of OEMs are looking for technology partners. We are getting expertise, and Argo AI is getting a customer in Ford."

Ford Motor said Friday it will invest $1 billion over the next five years in a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence company, Argo AI, to help put fully autonomous vehicles on the road by 2021 and to potentially license self-driving car technology to other companies. That in itself is pretty big news: major auto company plunks down huge money for robotics geeks to help it across the finish line on ambitious self-driving car project. But there's another very interesting aspect to the deal that shows Ford is serious about leading in the race to develop self-driving cars. With its $1 billion investment, Ford will become majority stakeholder in Argo AI, but the rest will be owned by Argo AI's cofounders, Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, and their team, including a contingent of Ford software engineers who will leave Ford and become Argo AI employees. Giving those workers a piece of the company as a sweetener is seen as critical to attracting and retaining talent in the competition between traditional automakers and Silicon Valley to develop cars of the future.

Ford CEO Mark Fields announced a $1 billion investment in a new self-driving car tech company, Argo AI. (Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO -- Ford Motor is betting $1 billion on the world's self-driving car future. The Detroit automaker announced Friday that it would allocate that sum over five years to a new autonomous car startup called Argo AI, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., and will have offices in Michigan and California. Ford's financial outlay is part of a continuing investment strategy anchored to transforming the car and truck seller into a mobility company with a hand in ride-hailing, ride-sharing and even bicycle rentals. Argo AI was cofounded a few months ago by Google car project veteran Bryan Salesky and Uber engineer Peter Rander, who met while working at Carnegie Mellon University's vaunted robotics and engineering school. "The reason for the investment is not only to drive the delivery of our own autonomous vehicle by 2021, but also to deliver value to our shareholders by creating a software platform that can be licensed to others," Ford CEO Mark Fields told USA TODAY.