Ford Motor Co. announced on Tuesday key management changes that include hiring a new chief marketing officer and bringing aboard Will Ford, the son of executive chair Bill Ford.
Here are the two new hires and one promotion:
Elena Ford assumes a new role as chief dealer engagement officer "to accelerate the transformation of Ford’s nearly 10,000 dealers worldwide" across Ford Blue, Ford Model e, Ford Pro and Lincoln Motor Co. She will report to Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue.
She has held the role of chief customer experience officer since 2018. Now Elena Ford will go from managing customers to managing Ford dealers as the industry transitions from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. She is a cousin of executive chair Bill Ford.
Elena Ford, chief customer experience officer for Ford Blue, assumes a new role as chief dealer engagement officer "to accelerate the transformation of Ford’s nearly 10,000 dealers worldwide" across Ford Blue, Ford Model e, Ford Pro and Lincoln Motor Co., the automaker announced Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
"Elena Ford and dealers around the globe will collaborate to increase the consistency and efficiency of Ford’s global dealer council’s governance, improve retail facilities, modernize training and development, become more diverse, further raise community engagement, and amplify best practices," Ford said in its new release.
“Our dealers are the face of Ford with millions of customers, and part of the fabric of communities around the world," Elena Ford said in a statement. "We can build on that strength through better training, deeper engagement and more diversity.”
Lisa Materazzo, a 20-year veteran of Toyota, joins Ford as its new global chief marketing officer effective Tuesday. She will lead advanced product planning and all marketing activities across Ford Blue, Ford Model e and Ford Pro, as well as oversee Ford Performance and Lincoln. She will report to Ford CEO Jim Farley, who also worked at Toyota.
Materazzo, who was Toyota’s top marketing executive in North America, held key leadership roles at Lexusand Scion.
Vacationing at F1 races globally
“The automotive industry is going through a sea change with the electric and software transition, and the more I looked at the bold bets Ford is making on the future, the more I wanted to be part of this mission,” Materazzo said in a statement. “Great marketing can supercharge the Ford+ plan because we have the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of customers with seamlessly connected product, service, and ownership experiences that create brand advocates for life.”
Lisa Materazzo, a veteran of Toyota, is named the new global chief marketing officer at Ford Motor Co., the automaker announced Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
She grew up in upstate New York "in the shadow of the famed Watkins Glen racetrack," Ford said, where Materazzo learned to drive in a 1981 Ford Mustang Cobra.
“My idea of a vacation is going to F1 races around the world,” Materazzo said. “I feel incredibly blessed to be joining this iconic company at a time when it’s making bold bets on the future."
She said she plans to work with Lincoln President Dianne Craig "to reinvigorate" the "iconic" brand.
William Clay “Will” Ford III joins the company as general manager of Ford Performance later this month. Ford is expanding its performance- and motorsports-related businesses and brand-building initiatives globally. He will report to Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance.
In February, Ford revealed plans to return to Formula 1 after a 22-year absence. Ford will partner with Oracle Red Bull Racing to form Red Bull Ford Powertrains starting in 2026.
Will Ford will build out Ford Performance as a business and lifestyle brand, working closely with product development, marketing, dealers, merchandising and other Ford teams, the automaker said in its news release.
Branding that's separate from ownership
Ford also plans to compete at LeMans next year with Mustang
“Nothing matters more to me than Ford’s reputation and brand, and Ford Performance is in a unique position to grow the passion for our brand throughout the world,” Will Ford, a fifth-generation member of the founding Ford family, said in a statement. “I’m excited by the opportunity to use Ford Performance to create new ways for our customers and fans to experience and love our brand, whether or not they own one of our vehicles.”
William Clay “Will” Ford III has been named general manager of Ford Performance as the automaker expands its performance- and motorsports-related businesses, the automaker announced Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
Ford graduated from Princeton University with a concentration in history and received his MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He spent a decade working "at the intersection of automotive corporations and early-stage mobility startups as a venture capital investor and entrepreneur," the news release said.
Previously, Will Ford was an analyst at Fontinalis venture capital, where he researched, analyzed and evaluated investment opportunities, assisted and worked with portfolio companies on various strategic and financial analyses, and aided the organization’s operations and business strategy, according to The Henry Ford museum website news release naming him a trustee in 2017. Prior to Fontinalis, Will Ford was a business development team associate at Masabi, a mobile ticketing provider for the transit industry.
A spokesman for Ford Motor Co. declined to provide ages of the new executives, as reflects recent company policy.
Ford, after 120 years, is still considered a family company, and workers often say they work at “Ford’s” not at “Ford.”
Bill Ford’s daughter, Alexandra Ford English is the first female family member to serve on the board. She and Henry Ford III, both great-great grandchildren of founder Henry Ford, were elected in May 2021. English worked at the company from 2017 to 2022, most recently as a global brand merchandizing director. Henry Ford III, known as "Sonny," worked at Ford from 2006 to 2021 in labor relations, purchasing, marketing and sales and corporate strategy.
