F
Another chair spins
Ford’s EV chessboard just got shuffled again. Doug Field — the Silicon Valley veteran tapped to lead the company’s skunk works — is leaving, which is a pretty big deal if you’ve been following Ford’s attempt to build EVs that can actually hang with the Chinese on price and tech.
Why investors should care
Field wasn’t just another executive with a shiny title. He was the guy helping shape Ford’s more secretive, next-gen EV effort, the one meant to produce lower-cost electric vehicles that don’t look like they were designed by committee in a beige conference room.
- The first vehicle from the skunk works is still slated for production next year
- Alan Clarke, previously a director, is moving up to run the team
- Ford’s EV strategy keeps getting rebooted just as competition gets nastier
The timing is, uh, not ideal
Leadership exits always create a little turbulence, but this one lands at a delicate moment. Ford is still trying to prove it can make EVs profitable without lighting cash on fire, and swapping out the person in charge of that mission adds another layer of execution risk.
Big picture: Ford doesn’t just need EVs — it needs EVs that work economically. Losing the person steering that bet makes the road a little bumpier.