Ford Motor Co's chief executive officer Mark Fields is expected to be replaced later today, the New York Times has reported. 

Fields was reportedly ousted following Ford’s poor global sales since he started in the job in 2014; sales have decreased by 7% in the US and 11% in Europe.

The resulting shrink in profits has triggered a decrease in share prices by close to 40% in just over two years.

At this stage the news is unconfirmed by Ford, with a spokesman telling Autocar UK that the company “won’t comment on speculation” and that it is sticking to its “current plan”.

However, sources predict an announcement will be made when the New York Stock Exchange opens later today. They also expect Ford's autonomous vehicles division boss, James Hackett, to take the vacant lead role at Ford.

The leadership switch comes one week after Ford announced plans to reduce its Asian and North American workforces by 10%; it has 101,000 and 23,000 employees in each region respectively.

A source close to the plan said that the cuts, which are part of a $3 billion (around £2.3 billion) cost-cutting scheme, is targeted directly at addressing profit and share price issues.

Ford has recently invested heavily in the development of autonomous vehicles, and plans to bring its first autonomous capable model to market in 2021.