Ford Motor Co.’s top marketing executive is departing the company.
The Blue Oval said in a statement Wednesday that Global Chief Marketing Officer Suzy Deering, who joined the company from eBay two years ago, will be leaving her role effective Friday.
“We thank Suzy for her contributions to Ford and wish her all the best in the future,” Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, said in a statement.
The company declined further comment on the circumstances of her departure. Deering announced the move WedneSday in a statement on LinkedIn in which she said she’d “made the decision that it is time for me to move on and let the team fly.” She did not mention a next career move, saying she will be focused on personal matters for “the next little bit.”
In her post, Deering said she joined Ford two years ago “because of the mission and belief in what is possible now and for the next 100 years. During the time I’ve been at Ford a lot of change has happened and the path forward is even clearer and more spectacular. The crafting of teams to help invigorate new thinking and leverage the greatness and timelessness of the expertise is unstoppable. Today I still believe in this mission and vision.”
She wrote that it will bring “great joy to see the fruit of the labor of standing up an in-house eCommerce business to support the needs and expectations of the customer,” and said she would be “rooting for Ford and smiling at what comes to life.”
Meanwhile, Deering said her priorities are “God, Family and Work” and that for now, she will be “spending some time with family and giving back to the One that makes it all possible.”
Deering was brought on board by Jim Farley — who had just taken over as Ford’s CEO at the time — about two years ago to modernize the automaker’s marketing strategy. In announcing the hiring, Ford touted Deering’s experience using technology, data and analytics to better understand customers — a key skill set given the automaker’s push to develop a loyalty-based, data-driven customer model.
She joined Ford from e-commerce giant eBay, where she served as chief marketing officer. Prior to that, she was CEO of marketing agency Moxie. She spent most of her career at Verizon Wireless.
In her role at Ford, Deering oversaw brand communication, e-commerce and digital strategy. She headed up the go-to-market strategy for Ford Blue, the company’s combustion engine business, as well as “supporting the future vision of Model e,” the company’s electric-vehicle and software business, according to Ford’s statement.
Deering’s successor will be announced later, Ford said.
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @JGrzelewski