DETROIT — Splitting Ford Motor Co. into separate business units dedicated to internal combustion and electric vehicles will help stave off competition on multiple fronts, CEO Jim Farley says. That includes the intensifying battle for talent with rival automakers as well as Silicon Valley tech companies.
“We want to beat the old players; we want to beat the new players,” he said on a conference call.
The new EV unit, called Ford Model e, is meant to act like a startup unburdened by many of the constraints of the company’s traditional 118-year-old business. And it’s meant to attract the types of engineers and designers that Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have been able to bring to the industry from other fields.
“We’re really trying to form a distinct culture in Model e, a culture that cultivates a different kind of work that’s required for some of these technologies,” Doug Field, who will lead product creation for Model e as chief EV and digital systems officer, said on the Ford call. “The kind of culture that attracts the best technical talent.”
Farley last month said Ford needed new talent across its business, although it’s not planning to hire a set number of employees for specific positions.
“It’s the quality of the talent,” Farley said in a presentation at the Wolfe Global Auto Conference. “It’s not the quantity, it’s getting the very best at new capabilities that can scale with Ford’s ambition.”
Farley on Wednesday said Ford was inspired to separate its EV and internal combustion units by the success it’s had on smaller-scale projects, such as Team Edison, which crafted the Mustang Mach-E, or the centrally located team that accelerated development of the Maverick compact pickup by 20 months.
Field, who previously worked at Apple and Tesla, praised new entrants for their ability to hire top talent.
“They’ve created an environment where people from tech who never dreamed of joining the auto industry have a place,” Field said.
Model e, Field said, will “be a culture of rejecting constraints” and operating faster than legacy automakers have traditionally. “We want the best people,” he said. “I don’t care if they come to work in bunny slippers, but we’ve got to have the best people.”
Still, he said the culture at the new EV unit will mesh with Ford Blue, the division dedicated to Ford’s more traditional internal combustion business. Executives on Wednesday said both sides will complement each other and share some technology.
“We’re committed to that not being a cultural divide,” Field said.