Ford Realigns 2 Top VP Positions In Product Development

DETROIT March 26, 2003; Dow Jones reported that Ford Motor Co. is realigning two vice president positions in its product development department in an attempt to strengthen the development process.

Phil Martens, currently vice president of vehicle-product development and engineering, will add duties related to North American development to his roster of jobs, a source said. Chris Theodore, current vice president of North American development, will continue as a vice president involved in product development, but his duties will change.

Ford spokesman Said Deep said the company was not commenting on the issue.

Ford announced in February it was realigning its North American product development unit into four platform groups that will be responsible for similar types of vehicles. The company previously set up its product development process around brand-oriented groups.

The company said in February the move was being made to help the company improve product development by 10% and reduce the number of platforms in North America by 25%.

"These changes are part of our efforts to accelerate the pace of our product- led recovery," Jim Padilla, executive vice president of Ford, said in February.