Rumblings of change are a reality at Ford after the automaker's new chief has made his first two big management changes.
Ford CEO Mark Fields has reassigned the head of the Lincoln development line, Jim Farley, to global marketing chief and tapped Kumar Galhotra as new Lincoln president. Galhotra had been serving as Ford's VP of engineering
Fields has only been CEO for a little over three weeks, taking the job on July 1. Galhotra, a 25-year Ford veteran, will become president of Lincoln on Sept. 1. Galhotra will have a heady task ahead as Lincoln sales have dropped by 65 percent over the past two decades.
The move comes as 52-year-old Farley continues to fall slightly out of favor at Ford, where he moved from Toyota in 2007. He was considered as a potential contender for the CEO position.
Farley and Fields were key in convincing now former Ford CEO Alan Mulally -- who recently took up a board position with Google -- to save the Lincoln line after Mulally had thought hard about letting that division of the company die.
"He will very much still be involved with developing the Ford and Lincoln brand, that hasn't changed," said Susan Krusel, a company spokeswoman. "He'll just be solely dedicated to marketing, sales and service."
Farley "has been doing both jobs and now Lincoln has some product and sales momentum under its belt, it's taking on global products and new dealers in China," Krusel said. "The business felt it was the right time to have a dedicated leader for the brand."
Ford has seen a resurgence in sales and quality of vehicles over the past seven years following years of losses that had many questioning if the company was going to be able to survive. Yet when the economic crisis hit, Ford did not need a bailout to survive, showing just how far the company has come in the past decade.
