EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR - Jim Farley, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FORD MOTOR COMPANY

FORD PRESIDENT AND CEO Jim Farley’s grandfather worked on the line that built the Model T more than 100 years ago. Now Farley has been tasked with advancing the Ford family legacy of auto disruption and innovation into the twenty-first century by moving the company to the forefront of the industry’s digital future.

- EILEEN FALKENBURG-HULL

The steps taken in 2021 to push Ford forward toward this goal, blending the company’s storied history with goals around sustainability and digital innovation, are why Farley is Newsweek’s Auto Disruptors Executive of the Year.

Farley has introduced electric vehicles starting with iconic nameplates: Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning and Lincoln Zephyr. Those models can be modified without stops at dealerships. Their connected technologies allow for digital range, suspension and handling upgrades wirelessly.

“This digital transformation has ripped its way through business and, after years of talking about it, it’s finally arrived in our industry. I think Tesla deserves a lot of credit for their acknowledgment of the shift more than 10 years ago,” Farley tells Newsweek.

“We call that ‘Always On’ at Ford. You’re always improving the product, you’re always talking to the customer. It’s not this episodic thing when you buy a car and if something breaks you go to the dealership—those days are over.”