Ford promotes Kumar Galhotra to COO; Andrew Frick to lead Ford Blue

Ford Motor appointed Kumar Galhotra as its COO, a position that recently has served as a steppingstone to the chief executive role, as the automaker simplifies its organizational structure and works to deliver on its growth plan.

Galhotra, who had been president of the company's gasoline and hybrid business Ford Blue, now leads its global industrial system. He is responsible for global vehicle engineering and cycle planning, internal combustion and hybrid programs, supply chain management, and manufacturing of vehicles for all of Ford's business units.

Two of Ford's past three CEOs — Jim Farley and Mark Fields — were named COO before ultimately rising to the top spot. The position has been vacant since late 2020, when Farley was promoted.

Andrew Frick, previously vice president of sales, distribution and trucks at Ford Blue, will replace Galhotra as head of that business unit.

"We now have the right people with the right talent in the right places to give our customers products, services and value they can't get anywhere else," Farley said in a statement on Wednesday.

Farley said Doug Field, Ford's chief electric vehicle, digital and design officer, will work closely with Galhotra to "support our customers and the businesses that serve them by rooting out waste, reducing costs and raising quality — in design and development, supply chain and manufacturing."

The changes are part of the automaker's Ford+ growth plan, unveiled in May 2021, that later involved separating the business into different units for EVs and gasoline vehicles.

The plan also includes the recent creation of Ford Integrated Services, a group focused on developing software-based services across the company's business units. Ford in August hired Peter Stern, a former Apple executive in charge of launching services such as Apple TV+, to lead that group.

"These moves will drive clarity and simplicity across Ford so we can significantly ramp up our capabilities and combine them with businesses that are focused on the needs of different customers," Farley said. "We're changing how we work to give those customers experiences that go way beyond their expectations, while maximizing quality, minimizing costs and stamping out complexity everywhere."

Ford is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results next week.