Ford promotes Samardzich to COO of Europe

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s vice president of European product development, Barb Samardzich, has been named chief operating officer of Ford of Europe.

Samardzich, 54, will assume the role on Nov. 1, Ford said.

The moves are part of a series of management changes announced on Friday by Ford, most of them in the United States.

Samardzich will be responsible for many of Ford of Europe's operations, including manufacturing, product development, purchasing and environment and safety engineering. Samardzich will continue to report to Stephen Odell, president of Ford of Europe.

Samardzich joined Ford in 1990 and was vice president of powertrain engineering from 2005 until 2011 when she moved to Europe. She also served as executive director of vehicle product development from 2002 to 2005 and chief engineer for F-series Super Duty commercial trucks.

Samardzich will be succeeded in her Europe product development role by Joe Bakaj, 51, who has been serving as vice president of powertrain engineering. Bob Fascetti, director of global engine engineering, will become a vice president and take on Bakaj's previous role.

Bakaj will report to Raj Nair, group vice president of global product development.

European profit challenge

Ford's money-losing European operations are one of CEO Alan Mulally's biggest challenges. Ford in July narrowed its 2013 loss forecast for Europe to about $1.8 billion from $2 billion.

Odell said this week at the Frankfurt auto show that the unit will turn a profit in 2015.

"Europe is dragging down the company from a financial standpoint," said Alan Baum, an independent auto analyst in West Bloomfield, Michigan. "Barb is somebody Ford thinks very highly of and they want to bring her talents to bear on a very difficult problem."

Ford has not had a COO of Europe for the last several years.

Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report