Ford CEO Mulally steps down; Fields steps up

SOUNDBITE: BILL FORD, CHAIRMAN, FORD MOTOR COMPANY (ENGLISH) SAYING:<br/> <br />"Alan on behalf of Ford Motor Co, for everything you've done, thank you, you've been absolutely the best."<br/> <br />And with that, at a town hall at Ford headquarters, the company made it official. After eight years, CEO Alan Mulally will step down on July 1 and longtime Ford executive Mark Fields will take the helm.<br/> <br />Mulally is widely credited with helping rescue Ford in one of its darkest periods, from a company hemorrhaging cash to one that turns a profit.<br/> <br />But he was an outsider. This time, they're going with an insider.<br/> <br />Board Chairman Bill Ford said that's just how he wanted it:<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: BILL FORD, CHAIRMAN, FORD MOTOR COMPANY (ENGLISH) SAYING:<br/> <br />"I would have been disappointed had we had to go outside. One of the things I talked about in the beginning was the continuity and the culture remaining the same so my preference would have been to promote from within but if the better pers