DEARBORN — Ford Motor Co. has tapped board member and longtime Steelcase Inc. CEO Jim Hackett to lead and launch a new mobility subsidiary.
The new Ford Smart Mobility LLC will have operations in Dearborn and Palo Alto, Calif. and focus on designing and investing in new services that expand the automaker’s business model, according to a statement. The division “will develop commercially ready mobility services and invest in promising mobility-related ventures,” Ford announced today.
“Transportation in the world today is on the cusp of a major revolution, and Ford plans to lead the way by changing the way the world moves through Ford Smart Mobility,” Hackett said in a statement.
Hackett, who had most recently served as interim director of athletics at the University of Michigan and whose career spanned 30 years at Steelcase, will resign his board position at Ford to take become the chairman of Ford Smart Mobility, which is “designed to compete like a startup company.” He will report to Ford President and CEO Mark Fields.
“Ensuring the freedom of mobility requires us to continually look beyond the needs of today and interpret what mobility will mean to future generations,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company. “This new subsidiary will enable us to develop mobility solutions to address the rapidly changing transportation challenges of an increasingly crowded world.”
