Ford hires Lisa Materazzo from Toyota as CMO

Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said it has hired a new chief marketing officer and moved two members of the Ford family into new roles.

The automaker said Lisa Materazzo, who was the top marketing executive at Toyota Motor North America, has been named CMO, effective immediately. She will report to CEO Jim Farley and lead advanced product planning and all marketing activities across the Ford Blue, Model e and Ford Pro business units.

Materazzo, who had been with Toyota for 20 years, also will oversee Ford Performance and Lincoln.

“I grew up in a family of auto enthusiasts and have dedicated my career to automotive. I'm a huge motorsports enthusiast. My idea of a vacation is going to F1 races around the world,” Materazzo said in a statement.

“I feel incredibly blessed to be joining this iconic company at a time when it's making bold bets on the future — from the three new divisions of the company to the audacious performance and motorsports plan. I am especially excited to work with Lincoln President Dianne Craig and the whole Lincoln team to reinvigorate this iconic and powerful brand.”

Materazzo succeeds former CMO Suzy Deering, who abruptly left Ford in December. Deering joined Ford in early 2021 from eBay, as the automaker tapped an outsider for the job. With the Materazzo hire, Ford has opted to stay inside the automotive industry.

A Toyota representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ford’s lead U.S. agency is Wieden+Kennedy, while Toyota has a longstanding relationship with Saatchi&Saatchi. 

Additionally, Ford said Elena Ford, great-great-granddaughter of founder Henry Ford, is now chief dealer engagement officer, and Will Ford, son of Executive Chair Bill Ford, is joining the company this month as general manager of Ford Performance.

Elena Ford was previously the automaker's chief customer experience officer and was on Automotive News’ 2015 list of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.

“I have worked hand-in-hand with dealers throughout my career and I am excited to now partner with our 10,000 dealers globally to make our retail network a competitive advantage for Ford,” she said in a statement. “Our dealers are the face of Ford with millions of customers, and part of the fabric of communities around the world. We can build on that strength through better training, deeper engagement and more diversity.”

The company said Will Ford will be charged with building out Ford Performance as a business and lifestyle brand and report to Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance.

“Nothing matters more to me than Ford’s reputation and brand, and Ford Performance is in a unique position to grow the passion for our brand throughout the world,” Will Ford said in a statement.

“We have the best high-performance product lineup and the most exciting motorsport schedule that I have seen in my lifetime, with more to come. I’m excited by the opportunity to use Ford Performance to create new ways for our customers and fans to experience and love our brand, whether or not they own one of our vehicles.”