Ford Motor Company Chief Executive Jim Farley.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
- Two Ford family members are up for Ford Motor board election, the automaker said on Friday.
- Alexandra Ford English would be the first female Ford relative on the board, per CNN Business.
- Ford has made several management changes in the last year, including naming a new CEO.
One of two Ford family members up for election to the automaker’s board during its annual shareholders meeting in May would become the first woman from the name-brand family to serve on the board, a milestone for a company that has shuffled leadership in the past year and is navigating a changing landscape for cars and the energy they use.
Alexandra Ford English, 33, works for Ford as a director in corporate strategy and serves as Ford’s representative on the board of Rivian, the electric carmaker in which Ford has invested. Her father is Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, and her great-great-grandfather is company founder Henry Ford.Three women currently serve on the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s board of 12 directors. CNN Business first reported that Ford English would be the first woman from her family to serve on the board.
Henry Ford III, who is 40 and a director on Ford’s investor relations team, is also up for election to the board. Like Ford English, his great-great-grandfather is also the company’s founder.
Two board members are set to depart: Edsel Ford is set to retire from the board in May after three decades and John Lechleiter has decided against standing for re-election, according to a statement from the company.Ford has made several management changes in the last year, including appointing a new chief executive in Jim Farley effective last fall. Farley, who had previously only been named chief operating officer months prior, replaced Jim Hackett. Ford also said in February 2020 that Joe Hinrichs would retire as president of automotive, Insider reported.
The company and its competitors, most notably Tesla, have pushed into electric vehicle production in recent years to adapt to a changing environment and help appeal to shifting customer tastes.”The three strategic areas that are key for us are turning around our automotive operations, modernizing everywhere, and really disrupting ourselves for the future,” Bob Holycross, Ford’s vice president of sustainability, environment, and safety engineering, said last month during a virtual industry conference held by RBC Capital Markets.
Article Credit: businessinsider.in