John Lawler is chief financial officer for Ford. As CFO, Lawler has overall responsibility for Ford’s Finance functions, including Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Treasury, Tax, Investor Relations, Economics, and Audit, as well as the Ford Credit business.
Lawler was previously chief executive officer of Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC and vice president, Mobility Partnerships, where he led the team developing and bringing to market driverless transportation services. Before that, Lawler served as vice president, Strategy, overseeing Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Global Data Insights and Analytics where he facilitated creation of Ford’s long-term enterprise strategy and helped deliver critical partnerships, including with VW and Mahindra.
Lawler served as vice president and corporate controller and chief financial officer, Global Markets, from 2016 to 2018. He has also held a number of roles throughout Ford’s global enterprise, including chairman and, chief executive officer of Ford China, and CFO) for Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, based in Shanghai. In the latter role, he was responsible for the financial strategy and analysis of the company’s operations throughout and helped set business strategy for the region.
He joined Ford in 1990 and subsequently served in a variety of roles in North America, Europe and Asia. His assignments included controller of Ford of Europe’s Product Development organization and a finance leadership assignment with Mazda in Japan. Later, Lawler was a key member of the team that led the company’s North American turnaround, serving as controller of U.S. Marketing and Sales from January 2007 until moving to China in 2010. In the U.S. position, he was responsible for key business strategies including pricing and business planning, and led the company’s efforts to reduce complexity and overhaul dealer policies.
Lawler earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Knox College in 1988 and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 1990. He and his wife, Inga, have three children.
