Some people dream of early retirement in their mid-50s: Ford’s Vice President Steven Armstrong (58), Europe boss Stuart Rowley (55) and Lincoln boss Joy Falotico (55) can now live this dream. The company quit in a press release
the departure of the three top managers. It remains to be seen whether this happened entirely voluntarily, at least officially all three have decided to retire.
The conversion on the top floor also coincides with the organizational split of the US car company. At the beginning of March, the company announced to separate the business for combustion engines and electric cars in the future – however, both businesses remain under the Ford umbrella. From 2023, however, both units should each have their own profit and loss accounts. To finance the multi-billion dollar plans, Ford boss Jim Farley (60) had already stated that wanting to cut up to 8,000 jobs. He wants to save around three billion dollars by 2026.
Now Ford is also rebuilding the executive floor: The previous European President Rowley, who is also responsible for the transformation and quality assurance in the company, is going at a time when the company is still struggling with high warranty claims and reliability problems. He is replaced by Jim Baumbick. Joy Falotico is succeeded by Dianne Craig, who is currently President of Ford’s International Markets Group and will report to Farley in the future.
“Quality is the company’s top priority and Jim Baumbick is the right person to deliver world-class quality and reliability at Ford,” said Farley. The Ford boss has struggled with warranty claims, recalls and issues with new vehicle launches since his appointment as CEO. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, the CEO said these issues were also having a financial impact on Ford, as well as causing customer dissatisfaction.