Sir Nick Scheele is set to quit his job as worldwide president of Ford at the end of the year.

According to various media sources the 60-year-old former Jaguar boss is preparing to resign after a deterioration of his relationship with chairman and chief executive Bill Ford.

This has been dismissed as speculation by Ford, however.

Scheele's future in the industry has been the subject of speculation since he was effectively demoted in a boardroom shakeup at Ford's headquarters at Dearborn, Michigan, earlier this year.

Under his leadership, Jaguar's sales doubled. He served as chairman of Ford Europe before moving back to Dearborn in 2001, first as group vice-president of Ford North America and then as chief operations officer.