Doug Field, the top executive who shaped Ford’s electric vehicle (EV) and technology strategies over the past five years, is leaving the automaker. Field’s departure was was announced Wednesday as part of a broader reorganization of the company’s leadership.
Field joined Ford in 2021 with a strong Silicon Valley resume that included leading Apple’s special projects team and serving as senior vice president of engineering at Tesla. His hiring was more than just a return to his professional roots. (Field began his career at Ford as a development engineer from 1987 to 1993.) The hire was intended to drive Ford CEO Jim Farley’s vision to transform the legacy automaker into a leader in software, EVs and other advanced technologies.
Field reported directly to Farley, initially tasked with overseeing the company’s embedded software and hardware operations, covering vehicle controls, enterprise connectivity, features, integration and validation, architecture and platform, driver assistance technology and digital engineering tools. In practice, this made him responsible for the design, development and implementation of the entire technology stack used in Ford and Lincoln vehicles, including entertainment, navigation, driver assistance technology, connected services and cyber vehicle security.
Field was a visible figure at Ford, whom Farley often lauded in the company’s profits. He was among the key leaders when the automaker split its operations into three units: the EV and digital services division, the traditional internal combustion engine business and the commercial vehicle unit. And he was behind Ford’s skunkworks program – a secretive internal team – to build a low-cost electric vehicle.
As part of the reorganization unveiled Wednesday, Ford has created what it calls a “product development and industrialization” group led by COO Kumar Galhotra. Ford’s electric vehicle and design team, which Field led, will join this new organization.
The new organization comes with ambitious targets, including an 8% adjusted profit margin for its Ford+ commercial business by 2029. The team will also oversee Ford’s plan to renew 80% of its North American portfolio by volume and 70% of its global portfolio by 2029. This will include the next Universal Electric Vehicle Platform (UE-Vs) to renew Trucks F-150 and F-Series Super Duty.
The UEV platform is what the Ford skunkworks program — now known as the Advanced Development Projects team — developed. Alan Clark, the former Tesla executive who led this skunkworks program, is now vice president of Advanced Development Projects.
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