As Ford's Mobility Chief Heads Out the Door, Hackett's Top Deputies Take on New Roles

Ford Motor Company veteran Marcy Klevorn is set to retire come October, leaving her position as head of mobility in need of filling. No need for new blood in Ford’s C-suite, however, as there’s apparently room on Jim Farley’s plate.

Farley, Ford’s head of global markets, will add a new hat to his wardrobe even before Klevorn, 59, leaves the Glass House. Klevorn, whose tenure at Ford spans 36 years, will move to a (brief) new role after Farley dons the title of president of businesses, technology and strategy. There’s new responsibilities and a new title for global operations head Joe Hinrichs, too.

Effective May 1st, Farley will become responsible for Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s autonomous vehicle arm, research and advanced engineering, corporate partnerships, and global data insight and analytics.

Hinrichs, appointed president of automotive, will oversee product development, purchasing, manufacturing, and marketing and sales, also effective May 1st. He’ll also oversee Ford’s global business units in North America, South America, Europe, China, and other international markets, plus the Ford and Lincoln brands. Ford’s expectation of Hinrichs? Reaching a pre-tax global margin of 8 percent.

Between May and October, Klevorn will serve as chief transformation officer, reporting to CEO Jim Hackett. Klevorn took on the role of mobility chief in June 2017, immediately after Hackett’s arrival at Ford.

“In the past two years, we have made tangible progress in improving the fitness of our business, overhauled our regional strategies, created a winning product portfolio, and are working to transform Ford to succeed in an era of profound change and disruption,” Hackett said in a statement. “With this strong foundation in place for our auto and mobility businesses, we can now accelerate our transformation.”

Business matters aside, the elevation of Farley and Hinrichs has some envisioning what a post-Hackett world might look like.

“This sets up the horse race for who will replace Hackett,” Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Autotrader, told Bloomberg. “Joe gets the job of producing today’s vehicles that make the money and Jim gets the job of creating the vehicles of the future that are not making money.”

[Image: Ford]