Toronto, Ontario — Ford Motor Co. saw a significant staffing shakeup last week as the automaker announced the retirement of longtime executive Joe Hinrichs.
Hinrichs, who briefly served as CEO of Ford Canada in 2005 and most recently held the position of president of the automaker’s global automotive operations, worked Ford for 19 years.
In response to the retirement, Ford has named Jim Farley, head of new business, technology and strategy, as the company’s new chief operating officer, reporting to Jim Hackett, CEO.
All staffing changes will be effective March 1.
“I thank Joe for his tremendous leadership over the past two decades,” Hackett said. “Joe was instrumental to Ford’s ability to survive the Great Recession a decade ago without bankruptcy or taxpayer bailout, and successfully headed Ford’s operations in the Asia Pacific and North America.
Farley joined Ford in 2007 as global head of marketing and sales, later moving on to lead Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe and all Ford global markets in successive roles.
“Jim Farley is the right person to take on this important new role,” Hackett said in a news release. “Jim’s passion for great vehicles and his intense drive for results are well known. He also has developed into a transformational leader with the imagination and foresight to help lead Ford into the future.”
Farley will now lead Ford’s drive to strengthen its automotive operations, as well as delivering a sustainable global EBIT margin of at least 8 percent. He will oversee all of Ford’s global markets and automotive operations, including product development, purchasing, enterprise product line management, manufacturing and labour affairs, sales, service, quality and new model launch.
He will also retain his leadership of Ford Smart Mobility, Ford’s AV LLC and the automaker’s partnership with Argo AI.
