• The New York Times, Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11 AM

Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas division, is the odds-on favorite within the automaker to succeed Alan Mulally as its chief executive. And with North America as the source of virtually all of Ford’s profits for the foreseeable future, Fields is being pushed to deliver better margins, higher sales and the final validation that he is the best choice to take over when Mulally retires.

But while Ford and its crosstown rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, are again making money and increasing sales after their financial crises three years ago, Fields remembers how bad things were not very long ago. Instead of opening a weekly management session last month with a recap of Ford’s $8.8 billion operating profit for 2011, he passed out a sheaf of news reports casting doubt on its future, including one headlined, “Are Ford’s Best Days Behind Them?"

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