Ford is announcing executive leadership changes today with the announcement that Joe Hinrichs is retiring from his position as president of Automotive after a 19-year career with the company. Ford has also announced today that Jim Farley has been named chief operating officer and will report directly to Jim Hackett, President, and CEO of Ford. Ford says that the leadership changes come as the automaker is “moving with urgency” to higher growth and higher-margin businesses.
It’s doing that by leveraging smart, connected vehicles and services. Farley is 57 years old and has been with Ford since 2007 as global head of Marketing and Sales. He also previously led Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe, and all Ford global markets in successive roles. In 2019, Farley was named the New Businesses, Technology and Strategy team lead. Ford says in that position he helped the company determine how to capitalize on the forces reshaping the industry such as software platforms, connectivity, AI, automation, and new forms of propulsion.
Jim Farley will now lead Ford’s overall drive to strengthen automotive operations and to deliver a sustainable global EBIT margin of at least eight percent. Farley will oversee all of Ford’s global markets and automotive operations including Product Development Purchasing, Enterprise Product Line Management, Manufacturing & Labor Affairs, Marketing, Sales & Service, and Quality & New Model Launch. Farley will also remain the leader of Ford Smart Mobility, which is the Ford autonomous automobile partnership it runs with Argo AI.
Another change that Ford has announced is Hau Thai-Tang, chief product development purchasing officer is taking on an expanded role and will report directly to Farley. Thai-Tang will continue to lead Product Development and Purchasing while adding responsibility for Enterprise Product Line Management and Connectivity. Ford says all changes will be effective March 1.
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Comments
No more open deck ICE’s If ever there was a campaign to help people choose a different brand for their next vehicle, the open deck 1.6L and 1.5L EcoBoost 4s are it. 6-8+ week wait for a new long block. Coolant loss into #2,#3 cylinders. ~$8,000 if out of warranty.
While there has been failures on 1.6 engines not sure about the 1.5 engines overall they are very reliable engines millions have been produced now and most with high milage on them with no problem so the open deck design is proven .
This management change was accompanied by the usual “techno-babble” they comes from this company all the time. They have conceded 25% of the total automobile market by giving up on sedans. If the SUV & the ridiculous pickup truck fad ever goes away, say goody to this company.
Just look at the stock price after this announcement. I have zero confidence in the Hackett Farley team. Why the Ford family puts up with their financial loss caused by these two remains a mystery to me. They fired the wrong kind of guy. Get some car guys at the top of this company!!
Getting rid of Hackett is a must, re-establishing a decent priced car , not a CUV SUV or truck will help, will you make millions of them no but saves all those people from going to imports
So, you guys work inside Ford and can see first what they make money on and what they don’t? Guess which category the Focus falls in.
[Full disclosure: I own an SVT Focus, but I’m not blind to the reasons for Ford’s buisness decision.]
The sedan market is circling the drain. Most of the big players (Nissan and Toyota) derive a healthy percentage of their sedan sales from rental fleets.
Lets take Ford completely out of the picture:
Best selling Toyota in the U.S. currently (and for a while now): Camry? No. Corolla? No. Its the Rav4.
Best selling Nissan? Not Altima, its the Rogue.
Best selling Honda? Not Accord, not Civic, yep, the CR-V.
Ford, GM, and FCA aren’t as reliant on cars as Honda, Nissan and Toyota are. So they lose some customers to them, do you think its worth losing money on every car just to keep one more sad, CVT, rolling-credit-score Sentra off the road? Ya don’t think that maybe investing that money into, and using the factories to produce, vehicles that make money?