Elena Ford Appointed to Ford Global Sales Post
By Michelle Krebs January 28, 2009
DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford announced Elena Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of company founder Henry Ford and cousin to CEO Bill Ford, has been promoted to director of global marketing, sales and service operations.
Elena Ford most recently was executive vice president of marketing for Ford Motor Credit Co. In the newly created post she assumes on February 1, she will report to Jim Farley, Ford's group vice president of marketing and communications.
Farley told the Detroit News that her jobs will include identifying best practices from around the world and taking the "One Ford" strategy established by CEO Alan Mulally global.
That strategy includes the development and sale of global models including the Ford Fiesta, already on the market in Europe and China and going on sale in North America in 2010. The Focus and eventually midsize cars like the Ford Fusion in the U.S. and Mondeo in Europe will go global.
"This is a really big deal for Ford," Farley told the newspaper. "Marketing has always been a regional activity."
Elena Ford, 42, started working for Ford in the 1990s in truck advertising. She's held various brand and marketing posts with Ford and Ford Credit. She headed product planning for Mercury and was involved with the development of the Mercury Milan.
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