Ford Motor Company announced the promotion of Steven Armstrong as the new Transformation Officer for South America and India. The Ford veteran will be responsible to manage the completion of restructuring in South America and assess capital allocation in India. The automaker called these changes strategic assignments meant to accelerate improvements in global operations. Apart from Armstrong, the company has also appointed Lyle Watters as General Manager of China's Ford Passenger Vehicle Division.
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Both promotions involve longtime Ford executives and unprofitable markets. The new turnaround strategy also comes in place after the pandemic and the subsequent slowdown forced the much-anticipated Ford and Mahindra partnership to be called off in India. Anurag Mehrotra, Managing Director - Ford India, will now report to Armstrong. Meanwhile, Armstrong will report to Kumar Galhotra, President - Americas and International Markets Group, along with Dianne Craig, who was appointed as President of Ford's International Markets Group in February this year.
Armstrong will be responsible for assessing capital allocation for the Indian market
Steven Armstrong begins his new role on May 1, 2021. He has led the Changan Ford joint venture in China for 18 months. The partnership between Changan Auto and Ford Motor sees the company locally build several models with three plants located in Chongqing, Hangzhou and Harbin. The 56-year-old has been working at Ford for 34 years under different roles. He was the CEO of Ford Europe, and also the president of Ford South America. His experience ranges from Brazil, Sweden, Germany to the US.
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In the South American market, Ford had announced earlier this year that it will shut manufacturing in Brazil as part of a restructuring plan meant to increase efficiency and reduce costs. At the same time, Daniel Justo, currently Ford's Chief Financial Officer in South America, has been appointed as President - Ford South America. Justo will be reporting to Armstrong.
On the other hand, 55-year-old Lyle Watters will oversee Ford's long-term strategy for China, one of the biggest auto markets in the world. Ford says that Watters and his team will be accountable for broadening the American automaker's appeal to customers in China with must-have products and services that are developed in the country.
