Ford Motor Company this week announced the creation of a new “Enterprise Product Line Management” organization within the company to help maximize returns and drive top-line growth – that is, growth in gross sales and revenue – by better meeting emerging customer needs. The new organization will establish ten “cross-functional” teams, each focused on a single product line, to manage those lines as end-to-end businesses.
Those ten teams will be centered on the following product lines:
- Ford F-Series
- Urban Utilities
- Rugged Utilities
- Family Utilities
- Performance Vehicles
- Commercial Vehicles
- Electric Vehicles
- Compact Trucks
- Luxury Vehicles
- Emerging Market Vehicles
In a statement, Ford said that each team would leverage the automaker’s “human-centered design, advanced product marketing, and user experience teams to create breakthrough products and customer experiences.”
“Our most successful franchises – from F-150 to Mustang to Transit – are anchored in an obsession for the customer, deep product expertise, and an unyielding commitment to strong returns,” says Ford President of Global Markets Jim Farley. “By taking this approach, we can raise the bar across our product lines. Each team will have clear accountability for winning in the marketplace and delivering profitable growth.”
Heading up Ford’s new Enterprise Product Line Management organization will be Jim Baumbick, who’s been named Vice President in charge of the new group. In this role, he will report directly to Mr. Farley.
Prior to his appointment, Baumbick, 47, accrued some 25 years of Product Development experience, most recently serving as Executive Director of Global Product Planning and Strategy, and leading the development of Ford’s new flexible modular architecture approach. That strategy, which will see the automaker dropping its traditional vehicle platforms in favor of just five scalable architectures capable of sharing many common parts and modules, is a key component of how Ford intends to slash product development costs over the coming years and improve its financial fitness.
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