Ford gets a product czar, too

Ford will be following GM’s move of having a single person behind global product development, reports the Detroit News. The job of a “product czar” is to ensure that models are created as quickly and efficiently as possible as well as picking up on global car trends. GM’s Bob Lutz has been the product czar since 2001, and last year took up global development of GM vehicles as part of his position. He has been behind the recent decision to integrate Saturn and Opel more closely, as well as looking after development on the Camaro project.

Ford is expected to pick Derrick Kuzak as its product czar, and the announcement could come as early as this week. He’s currently the group vice president in charge of product development (try saying that 10 times quickly) for Ford America. Prior to that, he headed product development for Ford Europe, which gives him good knowledge of how things work across both sides of the pond. It’s a long overdue move that should help give Ford a leg-up when it comes to developing cars people actually want to buy. The recent announcements about Lincoln’s RWD and Ford’s Mustang development show that they’re serious about improving things.

Update: Ford has now confirmed Derrick Kuzak has been appointed as product czar.