Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) announced a new U.S. sales chief and chief operating officer for its European operations on Friday. The second largest U.S. automaker said in a statement that the current U.S. sales chief Ken Czubay is retiring on November 1. John Felice, currently general sales manager for Ford, will replace Czubay. John Felice will be reporting to Jim Farley, executive vice-president of global marketing, and Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s American operations.
Barb to help revive Ford’s European operations?
The Dearborn-based company also promoted Barb Samardzich as chief operating officer of the company’s European arm. Samardzich currently leads Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s product development team in Europe. Joe Bakaj will step into the shoes of Barb Samardzich as product development chief for Ford of Europe. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) CEO Alan Mulally thinks highly of Barb Samardzich. He expects Barb to help the company revive its European business.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) continues to lose money in Europe, while the United States remains its strongest market. Alan Mulally considers revival of the company’s European unit as one of the biggest challenges. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s European head Stephen Odell is trying hard to cut losses in Europe. He expects the European division to return to profitability by the end of 2015, according to Bill Koenig & Craig Trudell of Bloomberg. The automaker expects to incur $1.8 billion in losses from its European operations.
Ford leading the race in the U.S.
However, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has been consistently increasing its market shares in the U.S. market. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s market shares in light-vehicle category increased to 16 percent this August from 15.6 percent in the same month last year. Increasing sales of the Fusion, Escape and F-series pickups have helped the company beat competitors. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s Focus has become the world’s largest selling passenger car, overtaking Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) (TYO:7203)’s Corolla. Alan Mulally led company plans to ramp up its production to meet rising demand. The company is launching two new products next year: F-150 and the Mustang.
Last week, there were reports that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) chief executive Alan Mulally could leave the company sooner than his planned exit at the end of 2014. But Mulally denied reports, saying that he is committed to serving Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F).
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) shares were unchanged at $17.39 at 12:23 PM EDT.