Kumar Galhotra named Ford NA president in wake of Raj Nair departure

Ford announced yesterday that it was parting ways with Raj Nair, former president of Ford North America, over findings of "inappropriate behavior." In its announcement, the subject of Nair's replacement was left ambiguous, stating only that a decision would be coming soon. This morning, however, Ford has named chief marketing officer and group vice president for Kumar Galhotra as Nair's successor, effective as of March 1.

"Kumar is an incredibly talented executive with a special feel for product and brand. He is also a seasoned leader who knows how to drive a business transformation," said Jim Farley, Ford's president of global markets, in a statement. "Kumar is the right person to lead our North American business to new levels of operational fitness, product and brand excellence, and profitability."

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Galhotra is a longtime Ford veteran and was one of the driving forces behind Lincoln's recent return to the limelight. Before that, he was a VP of engineering and worked on all of Ford and Lincoln's global truck models. Galhotra's appointment, of course, leaves a vacuum, and his old position will be filled by Joy Falotico, former CEO of Ford Credit.

"Joy has been a driving force behind not only Ford Credit's consistently strong financial performance but also its business model innovation and transition to a digital customer platform," Farley said. "She brings marketing experience and a deep customer focus as Ford enters a very busy new product launch period to drive growth in revenue and profitability."

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In this time of great upheaval at one of America's most prominent carmakers, it will be interesting to see what changes are made in management style and what direction the company will take going forward.