DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. announced today that Alan Mulally will retire from the company July 1. Mark Fields will be named Ford president and chief executive officer and will be elected to the company’s board of directors.

“From the first day we discussed Ford’s transformation eight years ago, Alan and I agreed that developing the next generation of leaders and ensuring an orderly CEO succession were among our highest priorities,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford said. “Mark has transformed several of our operations around the world into much stronger businesses during his 25 years at Ford. Now, Mark is ready to lead our company into the future as CEO.”

Mulally, 68, is retiring after nearly eight years leading Ford, capping a remarkable 45-year career. Under Mulally and the company’s One Ford plan for profitable growth, Ford achieved 19 consecutive quarters of profitability, developed the strongest product lineup in Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious global expansion in the past half century, officials said.

“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,” Ford said. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived the global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies. We always will be grateful to Alan for his leadership, compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that will serve our company for decades to come.”

The transition in July is approximately six months earlier than previously anticipated. Mullaly, officials said, recommended that the timetable for the transition be moved up. “Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and now is the time to begin the transition,” said Ford, who recruited Mulally from Boeing in 2006.

Fields, 53, was named Ford’s COO in December 2012. He has been leading all of Ford’s global business operations and most skill teams, including product development, manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing, sales and service.

Fields’ role as COO has included leading the company’s weekly business plan review meeting, which Mulally established to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor the global business and competitive environment. The Thursday meetings are credited with driving a reliable and transparent process for running Ford’s global operations and enabling Ford’s senior leadership to work closely together and act decisively on its plan.

Before he was named COO, Fields served as executive vice president and president of The Americas since October 2005. In that role, he led the transformation of Ford’s North American business, turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the last four years. Earlier, Fields guided the product-led transformation of Ford’s European operations and formerly held European luxury brands, as well as the relaunch of Ford’s independent operations in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renaissance at Mazda.

Mulally thanked the Ford team for their many contributions and accomplishments. “It has been an honor to serve and contribute to creating a viable, profitably growing company for the good of everyone associated with the Ford Motor Co.,” Mulally said. “By working together with all of our stakeholders around the world, we now are accelerating Henry Ford’s original vision to open the highways to all mankind.

“Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark — supported by an experienced and dedicated senior leadership team — is absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling vision.”

Fields underscored his commitment to the One Ford plan. “It is a true honor to lead this great company and this talented team into the future,” Fields said. “Under Alan’s leadership, we have seen the power of One Ford and what a culture of positive leadership and working together can accomplish. My commitment is to build on that success by accelerating our pace of progress. All of us at Ford are committed to delivering even more of the great products and innovations that will deliver growth and define our company going forward.”