Auto giant Ford appoints a new global Chief Marketing Officer

At the Japanese-owned company she was the top marketing executive in North America. She also held leadership roles at Lexus, Toyota’s luxury car brand, and at Scion, the now-discontinued Toyota brand that was meant to appeal to younger customers.

Materazzo will report to Ford President and CEO, Jim Farley, and will lead advanced product planning and all marketing activities. She also assumes responsibility for building Ford Performance as a new business and lifestyle brand, and for Lincoln, the luxury vehicle division which has been making good headway in China but suffering headwinds in the North American market.

‘Sea change’ happening in the auto industry

According to Materazzo, electric vehicles and a revolution in software are causing a “sea change” in the automotive industry.

“Great marketing can supercharge the ‘Ford+ plan’ because we have the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of customers with seamlessly connected product, service and ownership experiences that create brand advocates for life,” she notes in a press release.

The Ford+ plan for growth and value creation “combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty,” the company explains.

Like other legacy automakers, Ford is working to shift to electric vehicles (EVs) to meet consumer demand. However, reports the marketing industry news portal Marketing Dive, Ford is losing money on each EV it sells and recently pushed back its plan for a 600,000-unit EV production run to 2024 instead of late 2023, as originally intended.