The chief of sales for Ford Motor Co. in the United States, Cisco Codina, 55, has announced his retirement after thirty years with the company.

Effective November 1 with his last day at work scheduled for September 21, Codina will take back-logged vacation time for the interim period.

In an interview with Automotive News, Codina said, "While it's always difficult to leave during challenging times, I felt very strongly that we had a solid business plan. We've made a lot of progress in a lot of areas."

Ford will look both inside and outside the company to find a replacement for Codina. Until someone is hired, Mark Fields, current president of the Americas for Ford, will be in charge of North American sales and marketing.

In the broadcast announcement received by Ford dealers Friday morning, Codina identified the top priorities to be increased sales of cars, a leading role in the crossover genre, safeguarding the company's dominate role in the pickup market, and getting behind greater movement of the Lincoln brands.

Codina was named head of sales and marketing for Ford in January 2006, coming to the position for the customer service division and leadership of Ford of Argentina.

Codina said he planned to be "fully retired from the auto industry" and would "work for one company -- one wife, one company."