Ford's global design chief J Mays, shown here at the launch of the Ford Flex, is resigning from the post effective Jan. 1.

J Mays, the talented but at times controversial group vice president and global design director at Ford Motor Co., will be retiring after 16 years with the Detroit automaker – and 33 years in the auto industry.

Mays, who was instrumental in breathing new life into Ford Design during the company’s often painful turnaround over the past decade, will be replaced by Moray Callum, who has been elected a Ford Motor Co. officer and named vice president, Design effective upon Mays’ official retirement on Jan. 1, 2014.

Mays is stepping down even though two of his key projects recently, the redesign of the Ford Mustang and the F-150 pickup truck, have yet to be shown publicly. However, a concept version of the pickup truck was unveiled during the North American International Auto Show last January to favorable reviews. The maker continues to hold the new Mustang – which will debut on the nameplate’s 50^th anniversary – under tight wraps.

“Throughout his 16-year career at Ford, Mays led development of the global Ford design language evident in most of the vehicles the company produces around the world,” Ford said in a statement.

“In particular, Mays led the teams that developed the design for the highly acclaimed Ford Fusion, Focus, Fiesta, Taurus, Mustang and F-150. He also was responsible for several significant concept vehicles, including the Ford Atlas, Evos, 427, Forty-Nine, Shelby GR-1, Lincoln MKZ and MKC.”

Mays has often said that throughout its history strong design has been a key part of Ford’s resilience under pressure. That has been clearly demonstrated in recent years, strikingly designed products like the latest Ford Fusion getting much of the credit for the maker’s resurgence following the U.S. auto industry’s worst downturn in decades.

But some of the products Ford launched under Mays also failed to click, notably including the reborn Thunderbird, and for a few years around the turn of the Millennium, there were numerous concerns raised about what critics dubbed Ford’s lackluster designs. Insiders suggest that the maker’s design department was given new freedom with the arrival of CEO Alan Mulally seven years ago.

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Mays already had a strong history when he signed on with Ford in late 1997. Among the many vehicles he was credited with penning was the so-called “New Beetle,” the first complete redesign of Volkswagen’s legendary model since it debuted in the 1930s.

Mays joined Ford in 1997 as the vice president of design and promoted to group vice president in 2003. A year later, he took on the expanded role of chief creative officer.

“The bold and sophisticated design language that J Mays pioneered will be visible for years to come in Ford vehicles and the auto industry overall,” said Mark Fields, Ford chief operating officer. “In addition to his talent as a world-class designer, J has brought together one of the most talented design teams in the business. We are grateful for his creativity and leadership and congratulate him on his retirement from Ford.”

Succeeding Mays is Moray Callum, currently executive director, Design, The Americas. Callum will report to Raj Nair, group vice president, Global Product Development.

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Callum will lead the design of all concept and production vehicles for the Ford and Lincoln brands globally. Since 2006, Callum has had overall responsibility for the design of all cars and trucks designed in Ford’s North and South America studios and the new Lincoln products. His successes include the new Ford Fusion, Explorer, Mustang, EcoSport and Lincoln MKZ. Prior to that, Callum led Mazda’s design transformation from 2001 to 2006, based in Japan.

Ford also announced the retirement of two other key executives, Jim Tetrault, the head of Ford Manufacturing in North America, and Marty Mulloy, vice president of labor relations and the man responsible for the company’s sensitive relations with the United Auto Workers as it approached the union for concessions during the recent downturn.