Hapless or visionary CEO?
Ford Motor Company is reorganizing yet again, this time with a “new Enterprise Product Line Management organization.” The Dearborn-based truck maker says it “continues to transform to meet emerging customer needs, drive top-line growth and maximize returns.”
Ford Motor is traveling well-worn pothole ridden roads. The move comes as Ford stock continue to languish below $10 a share of common as Wall Street remains skeptical of its future earnings potential. (see Failing Grade for Ford Motor Q1 Earnings and Ford Proxy – Shareholders Want Political Spending Info)
“Each team will have clear accountability for winning in the marketplace and delivering profitable growth.” So what were they doing before?
The new organization will be led by Jim Baumbick, who is named vice president, Enterprise Product Line Management, and thereby becomes a company officer. He will report to Jim Farley, Ford president, Global Markets.
The new EPLM organization (of course we need an obscure acronym) establishes ten cross-functional teams that will manage distinct product lines as end-to-end businesses and use Ford’s design, advanced product marketing and user experience teams to create products and – what else – “customer experiences.”
“Our most successful franchises – from F-150 to Mustang to Transit — are anchored in an obsession for the customer, deep product expertise and an unyielding commitment to strong returns,” Farley claimed. “Each team will have clear accountability for winning in the marketplace and delivering profitable growth.”
The Ten Teams:
- F-Series
- Urban utilities
- Rugged utilities
- Family utilities
- Performance vehicles
- Commercial vehicles
- Electric vehicles
- Compact trucks
- Luxury vehicles
- Emerging market vehicles
The product line teams are supposed to be nimble, customer-focused and include cross-functional expertise in engineering, product planning, manufacturing, marketing, and finance. The EPLM teams will work closely with Ford’s Product Development and Marketing organizations, global business units and regional skill teams to create vehicles and bring them to market.
Baumbick, 47, brings 25 years of Product Development experience to his new role. Prior to this – nota bene: not a mention of Ford 2000 or Richard Parry Jones and his predecessors and successors who steered Ford on this path decades ago – Baumbick served as executive director of Global Product Planning and Strategy. There he led the development of the company’s flexible modular architecture approach, key for Product Development. Baumbick will maintain his present responsibilities within Global Product Planning and Strategy.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Ford Reorganizes Again Under Product Line Management Flag
Hapless or visionary CEO?
Ford Motor Company is reorganizing yet again, this time with a “new Enterprise Product Line Management organization.” The Dearborn-based truck maker says it “continues to transform to meet emerging customer needs, drive top-line growth and maximize returns.”
Ford Motor is traveling well-worn pothole ridden roads. The move comes as Ford stock continue to languish below $10 a share of common as Wall Street remains skeptical of its future earnings potential. (see Failing Grade for Ford Motor Q1 Earnings and Ford Proxy – Shareholders Want Political Spending Info)
“Each team will have clear accountability for winning in the marketplace and delivering profitable growth.” So what were they doing before?
The new organization will be led by Jim Baumbick, who is named vice president, Enterprise Product Line Management, and thereby becomes a company officer. He will report to Jim Farley, Ford president, Global Markets.
The new EPLM organization (of course we need an obscure acronym) establishes ten cross-functional teams that will manage distinct product lines as end-to-end businesses and use Ford’s design, advanced product marketing and user experience teams to create products and – what else – “customer experiences.”
“Our most successful franchises – from F-150 to Mustang to Transit — are anchored in an obsession for the customer, deep product expertise and an unyielding commitment to strong returns,” Farley claimed. “Each team will have clear accountability for winning in the marketplace and delivering profitable growth.”
The Ten Teams:
The product line teams are supposed to be nimble, customer-focused and include cross-functional expertise in engineering, product planning, manufacturing, marketing, and finance. The EPLM teams will work closely with Ford’s Product Development and Marketing organizations, global business units and regional skill teams to create vehicles and bring them to market.
Baumbick, 47, brings 25 years of Product Development experience to his new role. Prior to this – nota bene: not a mention of Ford 2000 or Richard Parry Jones and his predecessors and successors who steered Ford on this path decades ago – Baumbick served as executive director of Global Product Planning and Strategy. There he led the development of the company’s flexible modular architecture approach, key for Product Development. Baumbick will maintain his present responsibilities within Global Product Planning and Strategy.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.