Ford Motor Company has established a new end-to-end organization, Product Creation and Industrialization, that unites its electric vehicle, digital, design, and global industrial teams under Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra. The restructure, detailed on Ford’s press portal on April 15, is positioned as a central lever in the automaker’s Ford+ plan and its target of an 8% adjusted EBIT margin by 2029. The move also triggers leadership changes, including the departure of Chief EV, Digital, and Design Officer Doug Field.
Highlights
- New Product Creation and Industrialization organization merges EV, digital, and design teams with Ford’s global industrial system
- COO Kumar Galhotra will lead the unified organization, tied to Ford+ goal of 8% adjusted EBIT margin by 2029
- Doug Field to depart Ford next month after nearly five years as chief EV, digital, and design officer
- Alan Clarke promoted to vice president, Advanced Development Projects; Kieran Cahill retiring effective May 1
A Unified Organization Targeting 8% Margins
The Product Creation and Industrialization team will be responsible for scaling Ford’s digital, design, and EV capabilities across its global industrial system. Integrating the advanced technology and manufacturing groups is designed to accelerate decision-making and reduce complexity in product development and rollout.
“This is the culmination of years of work and progress to create the modern Ford – a talented, unified organization capable of scaling high-quality, software-defined vehicles with a choice of propulsion, distinctive digital experiences and features, and a personalized ownership experience that improves over time,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO.
Galhotra framed the new structure as a tool for execution discipline. “The progress our teams have made in the past few years – from quality and cost to software delivery – has fundamentally reshaped the way we work and positioned Ford for a new era,” Galhotra said. “By uniting advanced technology with industrial execution, we can make decisions faster, eliminate complexity, and deliver great vehicles and digital experiences with the quality and efficiency our customers and shareholders expect.”
Universal EV Platform Anchors Product Strategy
Central to the restructure is scaling Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, first detailed in August 2025 alongside a $5 billion investment in Louisville Assembly Plant and BlueOval Battery Park Michigan. The first UEV vehicle, a mid-size electric pickup, is headed to production.
The platform uses large aluminum “unicastings” and a zonal electrical architecture with in-house software controls. Ford has also applied the program as a proving ground for new development tools, including physics-based cost modeling and a systems-engineering “bounty” approach that ties every engineering tradeoff to measurable range and cost targets.
By 2029, Ford plans to refresh 80% of its North American portfolio by volume and 70% of its global portfolio by volume. That pipeline includes the first UEV vehicle, a mid-size pickup, and the next-generation F-150 and F-Series Super Duty.
Electrification and Software Roadmap Through 2030
Ford set additional 2030 targets tied to the restructure. Nearly 90% of global nameplates will offer electrified powertrains, spanning advanced hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles, and fully electric vehicles. Ninety percent of Ford vehicles by volume will also feature updated electrical architectures, in-house developed user experiences, and next-generation over-the-air capabilities supporting BlueCruise and the Ford Digital Experience, with a path toward Level 3 autonomous driving.
The UEV program has also produced capabilities deployed elsewhere, including high-efficiency motors for future hybrids and a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery engineering base that now underpins Ford Energy, the company’s stationary energy storage business.
Leadership Changes Across EV and Manufacturing
Field, who joined Ford nearly five years ago to lead its shift to electrified, connected, and software-defined vehicles, will leave after a transition over the next month.
“I’m honored to have been a part of leading Ford during an unprecedented period of technology and market disruption,” Field said. “I believe Ford now has a winning technology strategy and plan. The first breakthrough product off the Universal EV platform – a mid-size pickup – is on its way to production. We have clearly defined hardware, software, and electrification plans across our full product line.”
Field added: “I have been incredibly lucky to be at the center of disruption and innovation at Apple, Tesla, and now Ford, and I look forward to giving some of that experience back to the world.”
Farley credited Field with building out Ford’s software-defined vehicle capability. “Doug has been an invaluable partner for me as CEO and helped Ford find its place in this new era of electric propulsion and software-defined vehicles,” Farley said. “He not only assembled a brilliant team from across industries but also elevated our culture by teaching first-principles thinking and instilling the discipline to question constraints and eliminate complexity.”
Alan Clarke is promoted to vice president, Advanced Development Projects, continuing to lead the California-based Advanced Electric Vehicle Development team — the “skunkworks” group that developed the UEV platform. Ford said it intends to apply the same small-team model to select future programs.
Kieran Cahill, vice president of manufacturing for Europe and Ford’s International Markets Group, is retiring May 1 after a 37-year career at the company.
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