Key events under former Ford CEO Mark Fields

Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that President and CEO Mark Fields was retiring from the company and will be replaced by Ford board member Jim Hackett. Here are some major events that occurred during Fields' tenure.

July 1, 2014: Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally retires. Mark Fields, who has been Ford's chief operating officer since 2012, becomes president and CEO. Ford's stock is trading at $17.24 per share.

October 2014: Ford launches luxury Lincoln brand in China.

November 2014: Ford starts production of a new F-150 pickup with aluminum sides, which saves weight and fuel economy. It's a big bet on one of the company's most profitable products.

December 2014: Ford ends the year with a 15 percent share of new vehicle sales in the U.S., its biggest market.

January 2015: Ford opens a research and development center in Silicon Valley. The company shocks the Detroit auto show with its new GT supercar.

November 2015: Ford reaches a new contract with the United Auto Workers union. The company promises to create or retain 8,500 U.S. factory jobs and invest $9 billion in U.S. plants.

December 2015: Ford ends the year with a 14.9 percent share of U.S. new vehicle sales.

January 2016: Ford earns a record pretax profit of $10.8 billion for 2015. But its stock price falls to $11.94 on investor worries that the U.S. market is peaking.

April 2016: Ford announces it's opening a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and will move small car production there from Michigan. Presidential candidate Donald Trump criticizes the move, even though Ford plans to put new vehicles into the Michigan plant.

June 2016: Ford GT wins the Le Mans endurance race in France for the first time since 1966.

September 2016: Ford buys Chariot, a shuttle startup in San Francisco.

December 2016: Ford ends the year with 14.8 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales.

January 2017: Ford says it's canceling the Mexico plant, winning praise from President Trump.

February 2017: Ford invests $1 billion over five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence startup that will help develop a self-driving shuttle due out in 2021.

May 2017: Ford announces it will cut 1,400 U.S. salaried jobs by September in an effort to trim costs. The cuts will be voluntary, and Ford will offer buyout packages.

May 22, 2017: Ford announces Fields is retiring at age 56 after 28 years with the company. Jim Hackett, a former Ford board member and CEO of Steelcase Inc., becomes Ford's new CEO. Ford's stock price rises 2 percent to close at $11.10.