Ford has a named a new head of North American manufacturing operations and a member of the founding Ford family as chief customer experience officer “responsible for creating a world-class customer experience spanning across the entire ownership cycle”.
John Savona is now officially vice president, North American manufacturing, and was also elected a company officer. He will be responsible for over 30 factories across the continent.
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“John has nearly 30 years of experience in Ford manufacturing, having held leadership positions in many of our manufacturing facilities and been responsible for key areas including global quality improvement,” said Gary Johnson, group vice president, manufacturing and labour affairs.
Savona previously was director of global manufacturing quality with responsibility for ensuring continuous improvement at all Ford factories worldwide. He began his career with the automaker in 1989 as a security officer at the Wayne, Michigan assembly plant after army service.
Meanwhile, Elena Ford, great-great-granddaughter of Henry Ford and granddaughter of Henry Ford II, was named chief customer experience officer, reporting to Joe Hinrichs, president, global operations.
The automaker said a realignment of customer experience under global operations would allow Ms Ford, 52, to work with the customer service division and the quality organisation “to more tightly connect the design and implementation of a world-class customer experience system that connects the interactions between Ford and its customers around the world”.
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By GlobalDataShe will remain “closely integrated with the sales and marketing organisation and global dealer network”.
Elena Ford, the automaker said, would head a team “tasked with identifying key customer pain points that have the highest potential to drive improved business results, from digital sites to call centres and service bays”.
The team would “address today’s issues and will leverage data, and create policies and practices to create the interactions of tomorrow and exceed customer expectations”.
“Our customers see Ford as one company and they don’t distinguish between the company, our call centre and the dealers,” Elena Ford said.
“Our goal is to be the most trusted company and we must deliver the most trusted experience for our customers. For our loyal customers, this could mean a faster oil change, a more intuitive app or an easier way to schedule servicing.”
