Ford's Lawler to hand over CFO role to ex-Lucid executive, transition to vice-chair

Ford said on Friday John Lawler would hand over his role as CFO to ex-Lucid Motors CFO Sherry House in early 2025 as he transitions to vice-chair to take on broader responsibilities at the Detroit carmaker.

House, who has previously held leadership roles at Alphabet's Waymo and worked with General Motors, will join Ford as vice-president of finance effective in early June before taking over the CFO role.

Lawler will focus on Ford's strategy and partnerships, among other duties, in his new role.

As Ford's CFO for nearly four years, Lawler played a key role in putting together the company's “Ford+” growth plan launched in 2021 and aimed at boosting sales of its petrol and battery-powered vehicles while improving profitability.

He also helped the company navigate Covid-19 pandemic-era supply chain problems and a costly workers' strike.

While sales of petrol-powered vehicles have been strong, Ford — as the rest of the players in the industry — is grappling with slowing demand for electric vehicles (EV), prompting it to scale back some of its EV ambitions.

The carmaker, which planned to pour billions into building its EV offerings, lost nearly $4.7bn (R86.8bn) on the business in 2023.

House takes over the finance reins as Ford sharpens its EV strategy.

“Sherry adds an important leadership dimension to Ford as we urgently build a profitable EV business,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on Friday.

House joined Lucid in May 2021 just before its listing and spent more than two years at the Saudi Arabia-backed startup before an abrupt departure.

During her tenure, Lucid started manufacturing its luxury Air sedan in Arizona, secured billions of dollars more in financing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and signed a deal that made Aston Martin an investor in the company.

However, Lucid's losses mounted in the period due to struggles with a production ramp-up and slowing growth in demand for EVs, knocking its share price.