Ford aims to differentiate brands

FAO President Jac Nasser may lose his 'Jac the Knife' nickname. Are you ready for 'Jac the Savior?'

It's been a little more than a year and a half since Jac Nasser took over as head of Ford Automotive Operations, and it's never going to be the same.

He's been busy, chopping out costs and products. Some say he continues to earn his nickname, "Jac the Knife." Others says he's tired of that moniker and hopes to soften his image a bit. In the last 18 months Nasser has:

Cut $3 billion from FAO's costs, helping to boost Ford earnings to a record $6.9 billion and outdoing rival General Motors, which ended 1997 with a $6.7 billion profit. Cost cuts for 1998, however, won't …