Dive Brief:
- Ford Motor Co. is making senior leadership changes as it begins to execute its Ford+ strategic plan to drive profitable growth, the company announced in a press release.
- Among the new executive appointments, Ford’s current CFO John Lawler is expanding his responsibilities as vice chair and will help lead future strategy decisions for the automaker, including leveraging partnerships, and liaise with leaders on industry-critical policy around the globe, according to Ford.
- Ford also announced the appointment of former Lucid Group CFO, Sherry House, as VP of finance in an interim role to help ensure a smooth transition. House will eventually succeed Lawler as Ford CFO in 2025. The new appointments will take effect in June.
Dive Insight:
Lawler has served as Ford’s CFO since October 2020. When House succeeds him next year, his new role as vice chair will be to oversee the company’s strategic development as part of its Ford+ plan, including technology and growth in international markets. He will engage with leaders in China, Southeast Asia and Europe to support Ford’s global strategic and commercial initiatives.
“I’m honored to take on this broader role, working with Jim (Farley) to advance our global strategy and bringing my experience, knowledge and relationships to bear through Ford+,” Lawler said in the press release.
Previously, Lawler served as president of Ford China for four years. He was also controller and CFO of Ford’s global markets, as well as leading Ford’s autonomous vehicles business and mobility partnerships. Lawler joined Ford in 1990.
“The progress we’re achieving with Ford+ enables us to make these moves and drive a new level of strategic focus and execution,” CEO Jim Farley said in the release. “John is an outstanding strategic business leader and can leverage his talent and global experience to help Ford compete and win in this fast-changing and extremely competitive environment.”
Farley announced the Ford+ transformation plan in May 2021, calling it the company’s “biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford scaled production of the Model T.”
The initiatives of Ford+ include improving the automaker’s financial performance and creating an efficient end-to-end global industrial system for all Ford vehicles, including electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Ford’s new VP of finance House resigned as Lucid Group CFO in December after nearly three years at the company. Her resignation was announced several days after Lucid automaker was removed from the Nasdaq-100 Index. Prior to Lucid, House served as CFO of Alphabet’s autonomous driving technology company Waymo.
In her new role at Ford, House will help drive profitable growth with a focus on EVs, software and services. She will guide Ford’s EV business and drive efforts to generate new and recurring revenue streams from vehicle software, the company stated.
“Sherry combines deep roots and a passion for the auto industry with real-world experience in investment banking, mobility and technology, including EVs and autonomy,” Farley said.
The executive appointments of Lawler and House come as Ford racks up billions of dollars in losses for its EV business. Ford’s EV revenues are down 84%, falling from $700 million in Q1 2023 to just $100 million in the first quarter of 2024. Last month, Ford reported a loss of $1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2024 for its Model e unit.
