AUTOS

Ford’s Chief Technical Officer to Retire: Louis Ross, who also serves as vice chairman, plans to retire at the end of the year. Ross, a director since 1985, also will give up his Ford Motor Co. board seat. “He is not expected to be replaced with an internal director,” Ford spokesman John Harmon said. The nation’s second-largest auto maker will either fill his seat with an outsider or not replace him at all. Including Ross, Ford currently has three employees on its 15-member board of directors. The other two are Ford Chairman Alex Trotman and Ford Motor Credit Co. President Edsel Ford II.