Ford supply chain exec departs, F-150 Lightning plant still closed
Annie Liu, a former head of supply chain, battery and energy at Tesla who joined Ford Motor Co. last year, left her role with the Dearborn automaker this week, the Detroit Free Press confirmed Friday.
Liu was executive director of purchasing for the Ford Model e line of all-electric products and technology.
"I spoke with Annie last night," Ford spokesman T.R. Reid said Friday. "She said that her plans changed, influenced by the needs of her family. Like others here, I wished her the best. She expressed the same for Ford and where it’s going."
Reid said her departure was unrelated to the recent Lightning battery issues.
Liu's affiliation with Ford is not mentioned in her LinkedIn professional profile.
She does list her 15 years at Microsoft and nearly 3½ years at Tesla, which ended in May 2020.
She described on LinkedIn her accomplishments at Tesla, a Ford rival, this way: "Forged multi-billion dollar partnerships with key strategic Battery Cell and upstream raw material suppliers to meet Tesla’s rapid growth. Trusted supply chain partner in scaling up novelty battery and energy technologies. Led a global team of Global Supply Managers and Industrialization Engineers to support Tesla’s Battery and Energy business units including Battery, Battery Raw Materials ..."
A message sent to her via LinkedIn on Friday seeking comment about the Ford departure was not immediately returned.
Ford CEO Jim Farley and Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler each pointed to ongoing supply chain issues as a challenge when discussing a grim 2022 earnings report in early February this year.
'Leads sourcing' no more
Liu was playing a key role as executive director of purchasing for the Ford Model e line of all-electric products and technology, Ford noted in July 2022 during a news media call that included industry analysts. Liu is considered an expert in global technology sourcing with a specialty involving batteries and raw materials.
Lisa Drake, Ford vice president of EV industrialization for Ford Model e, said at the time the demand for lithium and nickel was overwhelming. Liu reported to Drake.
"Attracting new talent to the team is one of the ways we've managed to move so quickly," Drake said in mid-2022. "I'm very pleased to announce Annie Liu. She joined us several months ago. ... She now leads sourcing for Model e components and the embedded systems for Ford globally. Annie has tremendous knowledge about technology supply chain development, especially when it comes to raw materials and mining."
Ford recently has negotiated deals for battery plants in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.
When asked who would assume Liu's role, Reid said, "There were and are lots of people involved in SCM (supply chain management) for our EVs. ... We typically don’t parse out people’s specific roles."
The Free Press noted that Ford had touted the hiring of Liu to Wall Street during at least one industry analyst call last year.
F-150 Lightning plant still down
Meanwhile, production of the F-150 Lightning is going into its fourth week of shutdown, Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Flake confirmed to the Free Press on Friday.
The all-electric pickup truck, which has a long customer waiting list, stopped factory production in Dearborn while engineers and the battery supplier SK On have worked to figure out a battery issue that caused a fire in a holding lot in Dearborn on Feb. 4.
“The teams worked quickly to identify the root cause of the issue," Flake said. "We agree with SK’s recommended changes in their equipment and processes for SK’s cell production lines. SK has started building battery cells again in Commerce, Georgia. It will take SK time to ensure they are back to building high-quality cells and to deliver them to the Lightning production line. Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will suspend production through the end of next week, and we’ll continue to provide updates.”
Ford declined to specify the root cause of the issue.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford's supply chain exec leaves, F-150 Lightning plant still closed
