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.