More Senior Executive Changes At Ford As Brand, Smart-Mobility Chiefs Exit

Remember back in the day when the Ford family ran Ford, and that was that? Well those days are long behind us. The automaker has been undergoing a series of changes in the ranks of its senior leadership. And now it’s announced a few more.

Arguably chief among them is the departure of Musa Tariq, who has served since the beginning of last year as the company’s vice president and chief brand officer. He’s now leaving Ford for reasons undisclosed, with his work to be folded in underneath the company’s chief marketing officer Joy Falotico. Having previously plied his skills at Apple and Nike, we won’t be surprised to see his name pop back up in Silicon Valley – or in Detroit – in the near future.

“Musa is a proven leader of brand transformation, having led similar work at some of the world’s most admired brands before coming to Ford, and he is a leader known for creativity and social media expertise,” said Ford president and chief executive Jim Hackett. “Over the last year, he has been helping to drive the same transformation at Ford. We are grateful for his service and will carry on the work he has started.”

Tariq isn’t the only senior executive leaving the company, though. Automotive News reports that Raj Rao, head of the Ford Smart Mobility division, will be leaving on May 1. His top lieutenant for autonomous vehicle development, Laura Merling, quietly left her position in January.

On the flip side, Ford has named a new head of human resources. The top personnel job will now fall to Kiersten Robinson, a 23-year veteran of the company. Having served until now in an interim capacity, she’ll officially step up as a group executive vice president and chief human resources officer on April 1 (which, we take it, will not be a joke).

These changes come hot on the heels of Raj Nair’s dismissal just last month. The company’s president for North American operations was let go for unspecified reasons related to his personal conduct, unleashing a wave of additional changes in upper management.

Let’s not forget, either, that just last year, Ford fired Mark Fields from the top position as president and CEO, and named Jim Hackett to the post instead. The move was also followed quickly by whole raft of subsequent senior appointments, from general counsel and treasurer to global operations and several regional chiefs.

In short, we doubt that someone who’d visited corporate headquarters in Dearborn a couple of years ago would find many familiar faces occupying the big offices these days. And at this rate, we get the distinct feeling these won’t be the last big changes in Ford’s top ranks, either.