“Mr. Fix-It” becomes Ford’s new president

Jaguar was in a bloody mess when Ford Motor Co. bought it in 1989.

Back then, Jaguar had a reputation for poor quality. Any car with quality problems is bad enough. An expensive luxury car with quality problems? Not right, that.

Ford put its Nick Scheele in charge of Jaguar. The quality went up, Mr. Scheele gained the title Mr. Fix-It, and then got promoted to head up Ford of Europe. Earlier this year the Queen of England knighted him as Sir Nicholas.

Now, he is Ford’s new president -- second-in-command to new CEO William Clay Ford Jr.

Scheele faces similar problems at Ford world headquarters that he did back at Jaguar. And he plans similar solutions.

It’s getting back to basics, he tells Ward’s in his first interview since becoming Ford president.

His goal is a process that engineers, makes and delivers Ford vehicles on time, at quality and within budget.

Those are the basics of the business, he says, adding, “we haven’t had a great track record on doing those things.”