We’ve just this afternoon had official confirmation of what became this week’s biggest news – as broken this morning by just-auto, top Ford executives Stephen Odell and Jim Farley are to swap jobs.
A well-placed source speaking exclusively to us said a formal announcement of the reorganisation of Ford’s top management was expected later today and came it did here and here. The news followed reports and speculation yesterday concerning Odell’s position as head of Ford Europe. Farley – a seasoned Toyota and Lexus executive who joined Ford in November 2007, currently heads up global sales and marketing for Ford and is based at company HQ in Dearborn.
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The reshuffle is the first major change to Ford’s top management since Mark Fields took over from Alan Mulally as Ford CEO last summer.
“This [swap] has been on the cards for some time – we are always developing our senior guys. Stephen comes from a strong marketing background and career within Ford – Jim [it] gives him an opportunity to bring his talent to Europe,” Ford sources told us this afternoon.
Europe is something of a poison chalice for top suits at both Ford and GM and steadily worsening conditions this side of the Atlantic – not including the UK for now – have seen Ford push back profitability expectations beyond 2015. Nonetheless, some considerable progress is being made as the Genk plant is wound down, following retrenchments in the UK such as the Southampton Transit plant, and Valencia is reworked as a large car plant with considerable efficiency gains.
The company can also be proud of the work put in at Dunton, its R&D facility in Essex, to completely redesign the full range of light commercials and develop special versions of the big Transit to replace the iconic E-series line in North America. They do a lot of clever things at Dunton, as I learned on a visit there this week.
The UK saw another strong month of new car sales but growth may not continue for too much longer and there are signs a levelling-off is coming.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
