Ford Australia Welcomes back new CFO Murray Naismith

Ford Australia announces that Murray Naismith returns to the company as CFO, building on a 30-year career in finance. Murray started at Ford over two decades ago as a Finance Manager. 

Murray Naismith, CFO of Ford Australia, says: "With nearly three decades of finance and operational experience across the automotive ecosystem, including OEMs, distributorships, dealerships and remarketing, my career has given me a broad perspective on the industry.

“Today, both Ford and the automotive industry are at a pivotal point, transforming at the fastest pace in history. Ford Australia has helped shape the automotive landscape for more than a century and, with its distinctive product portfolio, passionate customer base and talented people, is well placed to lead into the future.”

He describes the moment as a “special full circle” after his eight-year stint at Ford Australia previously. 

Murray has garnered experience in the automotive industry, previously holding the CFO role at Cox Automotive Australia before moving into Managing Director at the company. 

Commenting on the first week of his new role, Murray says: “it has been wonderful to reconnect with so many familiar faces and meet some great new people through my induction.

"To the team at Ford: thank you for such a warm welcome. I am looking forward to working with you and helping shape Ford’s next chapter across Australia and New Zealand.”

A successful Q2 

The news comes shortly on the back of Ford’s Q2 results. It posts a 17% YoY growth for the quarter, generating US$48.3bn in revenue, with US$2.5bn in adjusted EBIT. 

It projects that full earnings will total between US$10-11bn.

New Group CFO Sherry House, who was appointed the position from VP, Finance, notes that for her, it is the “momentum and discipline” of the global team at Ford that has reinforced the results. 

The Ford balance sheet sits at a healthy US$22.3bn in cash, and the company states that it is steadily moving toward an 8% EBIT margin by 2029. 

The Ford+ strategy has developed, with an increase of 50% in paid, active customer subscriptions, totalling 1.6 million. 

Sherry continues, saying: “Because of our strong operational results in the first half of the year, we increased our full-year profit outlook by US$1bn”.

Partnerships in energy

Positioning itself to hold a “clear competitive advantage” says Sherry, Ford is inserting capital into high-return adjacencies. 

One example is Ford’s ‘milestone’ agreement with EDF Power. The car manufacturer continues to stay on track for its 2027 goal of 20GW hours of annual battery storage. 

Sherry states that this “opens up a lucrative, high-margin market in energy grid infrastructure”, in tandem with giving wind to the company’s manufacturing footprints to turn into active energy assets. 

“Our results in the second quarter prove that when we execute with discipline, Ford wins.” she continues.