New CFO has ‘well-rounded' Ford experience

DETROIT — John Lawler had been on Ford Motor Co.'s CFO short list for years.

He likely would have been the choice to succeed the retiring Bob Shanks in 2019 had Ford decided to fill the job internally, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The outsider hired instead, Tim Stone, is now leaving after only 16 months for a position with artificial intelligence company ASAPP Inc.

That brings Lawler, 54, into the top finance role during a pandemic-induced recession that has Ford forecasting its first adjusted full-year loss since 2008. He'll have to steer through a global restructuring effort begun by former CEO Jim Hackett and attempt to reverse a growing trend of disappointing financial performances.

But he may be uniquely positioned for the task.

Lawler has spent 30 years with Ford in a number of roles inside and outside the finance sphere. He helped weather the Great Recession as controller of North America sales and marketing operations, grew Ford's business in the world's largest vehicle market as CEO of Ford China from 2012 to 2016 and most recently played pivotal roles securing partnerships with Volkswagen and Mahindra as vice president of strategy.

"He's just built up such an impressive portfolio of experiences," Shanks, 67, told Automotive News. "He's extremely well-rounded."

Shanks, who now splits his time between homes in Florida and Oregon, first met Lawler in Japan in the late 1990s, when Lawler was finance manager for the Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute joint vehicle program. The two lived in the same building and became good friends.

Lawler ended up reporting to Shanks in a number of subsequent roles.

"The thing I always liked about him is that he would always challenge me," Shanks said. "He's decisive but open-minded at the same time. He's not a dispassionate, rational guy that sometimes financial people can be to a fault; he's also empathetic."

Ford faces a number of challenges as Lawler settles into the CFO role under new CEO Jim Farley.

The automaker is targeting 8 percent adjusted margins globally and 10 percent margins in North America. Wall Street never warmed to Hackett, with Ford's stock falling 39 percent under his watch as investors grew impatient with a slow-developing restructuring plan.

Shanks helped guide Ford through the early days of that plan, which included jobs cuts and what Ford dubbed a "flattening" of its organizational structure. He said Lawler will be asked to play a key role shaping Ford's direction.

"When you're a CFO at Ford, you don't just do the numbers," Shanks said. "You're a thought partner to the CEO and the rest of the senior management team on both tactical things and financial matters, but also strategy."

Lawler will have to balance that longer-term strategy with achieving reasonable goals each quarter, starting with Ford's third-quarter report Oct. 28.

"You just have to be relentless in keeping the facts and data in front of the team in terms of where we have gaps and where we need to do better," Shanks said.

Stone's time as CFO was marked by the coronavirus crisis, which prompted Ford to suspend its dividend, slash executive pay and max out two credit lines totaling $15.4 billion. He prioritized Ford's free cash flow, and the automaker reported more than $39 billion on hand as of midyear.

While Ford hopes the worst of the crisis is behind it, Lawler's experience as controller during the Great Recession could help if Ford finds itself in a difficult position in the future.

"His character is such that he approaches those things in a very even-keeled way," Shanks said. "He doesn't overreact or get blown off course by the magnitude of those things. John is a person people like to work with. He's got great communication skills."

Scott Griffith, who succeeds Lawler as CEO of Ford AV, has witnessed those communication skills firsthand since the two joined the self-driving subsidiary within a week of each other last fall.

Lawler turned a quarterly team meeting called "Mic'ed Up" into a weekly gathering that's now held virtually because of the pandemic. He also launched an internal, semiweekly newsletter called "Under the LiDar" that often includes personal notes.

During the social unrest this summer after the death of George Floyd in police custody, Griffith said Lawler attempted to connect with his team and learn how Ford could improve its diversity and equality efforts in the mobility space.

On a particularly poignant "Mic'ed Up," Lawler brought up his grandmother, who taught him as a child to talk less and listen more.

"He explained this was one of those times he wanted to talk less and listen more," Griffith said. "I thought that was a very powerful, humbling moment."

Griffith, a former CEO of ZipCar, said Lawler's experience in the mobility space will prepare him well for his role as CFO as the industry evolves.

"He's a low-ego guy with a blockbuster resume," Griffith said.

"Taking that direct operating experience and bringing that into the finance function will really help him find the right balance between investing in the core business that we have to continue to invest in and really making room and being patient with these new emerging growth opportunities."