Mark LaNeve Exits Ford
Mark LaNeve is departing Ford after nearly four decades of sales and marketing in the auto industry, having held a number of leadership roles at General Motors and Volvo Cars in North America.
LaNeve came to Ford in 2015 after leading its marketing and advertising agency, Global Team Blue, where he was COO since August 2012. Prior to that, LaNeve was the CEO of Volvo Cars of N.A., general manager of Cadillac, then vice president, sales, service, and marketing, at GM, followed by a three-year tenure as CMO and head of agency relationships at Allstate Insurance Company.
LaNeve, 61, has elected to leave Ford to pursue the next chapter of his professional life. In his place, the company announced that Andrew Frick has been appointed vice president, Sales, U.S. and Canada, effective yesterday.
Frick, 47, most recently director, U.S. sales, is a 25-year Ford employee, with Ford and Lincoln brand experience in regional roles in the U.S., Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, and Central America. Frick becomes an officer of the company and assumes responsibility for sales, customer care, and dealer relations for the Ford brand in the U.S. and Canada. Frick holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Villanova University. He will report to Kumar Galhotra, president, Ford Americas and IMG.
Galhotra said, “Andrew’s leadership will be critical as Ford continues to turn around its automotive operations, especially with exciting new products and ever-improving quality, modernizing all aspects of the company and disrupting our conventional automotive businesses to better serve customers.”
“Mark LaNeve has been an advocate for customers and dealers, and helped lead Ford the last six years, to improved dealer relations and record sales of F-Series pickups, while improving the retail experience,” Galhotra said. “In this extraordinary year, Mark and his team did a great job of safeguarding dealers and customers as well as increasing market share. He leaves a strong foundation from which to build on and take the Ford brand to new levels for customers and dealers.”
Ironically, LaNeve decamps from Ford almost six years to the day after it was announced he would head U.S. sales, marketing, and service, replacing John Felice, who had elected to retire after a 30-year career at the automaker.
[Images: Ford]
With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.
More by Jason R. Sakurai
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Is this the beginning of CEO Jim Farley's clean out the old guard campaign? That process usually takes a year or two.
Jim Farley, oh yes. A legend in his own mind. LaNeve left of his own accord, and others will too if the Autoextremist is to be believed, and he's generally been correct. People don't like to be ordered about by their obvious inferiors who also apparently have a bad temper and expect adoration for their brilliance. I predict long term success for Ford. Seems to me that whathisname the cabinet king, previous CEO, is the guy who okayed the Bronco and Mach-E but you can be assured it was all Farley's idea, oh yes.