DEARBORN, Mich. — Mazda Design Chief Moray Callum has been brought over to Ford to head up its North American design staff.

Callum had previously announced his departure from Mazda, where he is being replaced by Laurens van den Acker, formerly of Ford.

Callum, a native of Scotland, has received much of the credit for Mazda's current strong lineup, notably the RX-8 and the new CX-7 and CX-9 crossovers, and under his leadership Mazda generated excitement with show cars such as the Washu (Detroit 2003), Ibuki (Tokyo 2003), Senku (Tokyo 2005) and Kabura

He is responsible for the overall design and styling of all of Mazda's global products, replacing Callum, and reports to Seita Kanai, senior managing executive officer in charge of Mazda ' s R&D as well as Mays.

Before joining Mazda in January as deputy general manager, Design Division, van den Acker was chief designer of Strategic Design in the Dearborn Advanced Studio.

Prior to that assignment, he held several different design positions during his seven years with Ford, including chief designer for the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner and chief designer of the Brand Imaging Group.