DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – As Ford is making many new transitions with white collar employee programs, the company also announced recently the departures of three senior executives. 

The three who plan to retire have more than a combined 85 years of experience with the company plan to step down.  According to the Detroit Free Press:

• Stuart Rowley, chief transformation and quality officer who has spent 32 years working around the world in various roles that included president of Ford Europe and chief operating officer for Ford North America, leaves on Dec. 1.
• Joy Falotico, president of Lincoln since 2018, launched Aviator and Corsair. She has worked at Ford for 33 years, including stints as chief marketing officer and CEO of Ford Credit. She leaves Dec. 1.
• Steven Armstrong, vice president of India and South America transformation, spent 35 years at the company, having provided key leadership in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He previously served as president of Changan Ford. He leaves Jan. 1, 2023.

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The company also announced Wednesday that Jim Baumbick would be promoted from his position of Product Development Operations, Cycle Planning and Internal Combustion Engine Programs to oversee more quality control for the company at a pivotal time. 

Though Ford has continued to push towards leadership in EV development, and has risen to the #2 position – according to the company – it has also become the leader of car manufacturing recalls for the year.  To date, Ford has 61 recalls, most of which come from issues with power steering, but could affect more than 7.5 million vehicles according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

“Quality is our No. 1 priority as a company and Jim Baumbick is the right leader to deliver world-class quality and reliability at Ford with a disciplined process that runs from our supply chain to our engineering labs all the way to the factor floor,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

At Ford’s annual shareholder’s meeting in May, Farley voiced his concerns regarding quality control and costs. 

“We’ve made more progress on our launch quality and initial quality, you could see it in the surveys and our ramp-up of production,” Farley said at the meeting. “However, we are not satisfied at all with our quality performance, including our recalls and customer satisfaction efforts, which we need to quickly accelerate. ”