Marin Gjaja

About Marin Gjaja

Marin Gjaja is Ford’s Chief Strategy Officer as of February 5, 2025, after serving as Chief Operating Officer for Ford Model e since September 2023 and previously as Chief Customer Officer for Model e beginning in March 2022 . He is 55 years old as of February 1, 2025 and joined Ford from Boston Consulting Group, where he was a Senior Partner and Managing Director since 1996, bringing deep strategy and execution experience to Ford’s EV and software transformation . During his tenure, Ford reported record 2024 revenue of $185 billion (+5% YoY) and advanced the Ford+ plan to improve quality, reduce costs, and grow higher-margin software and services, framing the performance context for his roles in Model e and corporate strategy . On EV execution, he has articulated Model e’s growth outlook and compliance-credit benefits that enable sales of high-margin ICE vehicles, highlighting both opportunity and execution challenges as Ford transitions to profitable EVs .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic impact
Ford Motor Company	Chief Strategy Officer	Feb 2025–present	Elevated to enterprise strategy leadership to deploy Ford+ and capitalize on shifts in technology, policy, and competition .
Ford Motor Company	COO, Ford Model e	Sep 2023–Feb 2025	Led Model e industrial and customer operations during Gen 1 EV scaling and network/UX development .
Ford Motor Company	Chief Customer Officer, Ford Model e	Mar 2022–Sep 2023	Headed go-to-market, customer experience, and new business initiatives for EVs; drove pricing and accessibility actions for Lightning/Mach‑E .
Boston Consulting Group	Senior Partner & Managing Director	1996–2022	Led large-scale strategy and deployment programs; background cited by Ford in appointing him to senior transformation roles .

External Roles

No public company board or external directorships disclosed for Marin Gjaja in Ford filings and communications reviewed.

Performance Compensation

Award	Grant date	Shares (#)	Vesting schedule	Notes
RSUs (LTI Plan)	Feb 15, 2022	110,619	33% after 1 year from grant; 66% after 2 years; 100% after 3 years	Acquired under the Long‑Term Incentive Plan without payment; converts into common shares on vesting .
RSUs (LTI Plan)	Mar 4, 2022	42,729	33% after 1 year from grant; 66% after 2 years; 100% after 3 years	Same as above .

Performance plan structure and metrics (company‑wide):

PSUs have three‑year performance periods tied to relative TSR; payouts capped; subject to clawback and non‑compete/non‑disclosure restrictions .
Annual incentives include financial and non‑financial metrics (e.g., quality), with Compensation Committee negative discretion and capped payouts .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

As-of	Non-derivative common shares	Derivative units	Form	Notes
May 17, 2022 (Form 3)	0	153,348 (RSUs)	Direct	Initial statement of beneficial ownership; two RSU grants per table above .
Nov 19, 2024 (Form 4 filed)	—	—	—	Ford reported Marin Gjaja filed a Form 4 for changes in beneficial ownership (details in filing) .

Alignment policies:

Robust stock ownership guidelines for officers; hedging prohibited; pledging only permitted above guideline compliance and never in margin accounts; requires CEO/General Counsel approval .
Ford disclosed that no director or executive officer had pledged shares of common stock as of Feb 1, 2025, reducing pledge-related risk .

Insider activity signals:

RSU vesting schedules create periodic conversion events; Ford reported Form 4 filings for Gjaja in 2023 and 2024 (e.g., March 3, 2023 conversion; November 19, 2024 change) which can inform timing of potential selling/withholding pressure around vest dates .

Employment Terms

Provision	Detail
Role/appointment	Appointed Chief Strategy Officer Feb 5, 2025; previously COO Model e (since Sep 2023), Chief Customer Officer Model e (since Mar 2022) .
Change-in-control (equity)	Equity awards include double-trigger CIC; if ≥6 months since grant, RSUs either continue vesting if replaced or vest immediately prior to CIC if not replaced or responsibilities are reduced; options may become exercisable prior to CIC per plan provisions .
Clawback	Incentive grants include clawback provisions; awards subject to forfeiture for non‑compete/non‑disclosure violations and conduct inimical to the company .
Hedging/pledging	Hedging entirely prohibited; pledging restricted as noted above .

Track Record, Value Creation, and Execution Risk

EV growth and compliance credits: Gjaja described how Gen 1 EVs support Ford by generating compliance value that enables sales of profitable ICE vehicles; highlighted geographic adoption variance and the importance of software/services lifetime value and customer conquest rates in Model e . He also outlined substantial expected retail unit growth with Mach‑E/Lightning back in production and new Europe Explorer launch .
Pro/retail EV demand: On Q4 2023 call, he and management noted robust EV demand in Pro driven by duty-cycle economics and growing retail demand post production interruptions, framing execution focus on cost, quality, and second‑cycle EV products .
Pricing/accessibility actions: As Chief Customer Officer, Gjaja announced Lightning price reductions enabled by capacity upgrades and lower input costs, and Mach‑E price actions/production increases to improve accessibility and competitiveness — direct levers impacting Model e revenue growth and customer experience .

Investment Implications

Compensation alignment: RSUs with three‑year, ratable vesting and company‑wide PSUs tied to rTSR indicate pay-for-performance alignment and multi‑year retention incentives; clawback and non‑compete provisions strengthen governance .
Trading signals: RSU vest dates can create predictable Form 4 conversion/withholding events; documented Form 4 filings in 2023 and 2024 suggest monitoring around February–March and November cycles for potential supply effects .
Retention risk: Transition from Model e COO to Chief Strategy Officer suggests increased enterprise influence; RSU schedules and governance protections reduce near‑term retention risk, while execution risk remains in achieving Model e profitability and scaling EVs amid pricing pressures .
Alignment safeguards: Hedging prohibition and strict pledging limits, plus disclosure that no executives pledged shares as of Feb 1, 2025, mitigate misalignment and financing risks associated with insider collateralization .