James D. Farley Jr. (born June 10, 1962) is an American automotive executive who currently serves as Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer since October 1, 2020.[2] Before joining Ford in November 2007, Farley was group vice president and general manager of Lexus, responsible for all sales, marketing and customer satisfaction activities for Toyota’s luxury brand.[3] From May 2019 to February 2020, Farley served at President, New Business, Technology and Strategy. From June 2017 to May 2019 he served as Executive Vice President and president of Global Markets. From 2015 to 2017, he was CEO and Chairman of Ford Europe. He had an early interest in automobiles, primarily spurred from his grandfather who worked at Henry Ford's River Rouge Plant starting in 1914.
On August 4, 2020, Ford announced that Jim Farley would succeed Jim Hackett as the CEO of Ford on October 1, 2020. At the same time it was announced that Jim Hackett would retire and become a special advisor.[4][5]
He was born in Argentina to a father who was a banker, and graduated from Georgetown University and the University of California, Los Angeles.[6] He is a cousin of Chris Farley.[7]
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker that has its main headquarter in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in Jiangling Motors.[5] It also has joint-ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), Turkey (Ford Otosan), and Russia (Ford Sollers). The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power.[6][4]
Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010.[7] In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.
