Ford’s always been the odd one out of the Detroit Three. While General Motors has Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, and Chrysler Corporation has Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler, almost every Ford Motor Company vehicle is just that. A Ford. The only exception is Ford’s luxury badge: Lincoln. And now Lincoln may be getting even further away from Ford.

Lincoln’s CEO is retiring. Dianne Craig has been with Ford for 38 years and the head of Lincoln since late 2022. Joaquin Nuno-Whelan is set to replace her, but with a slightly different job description. Craig reported to Ford CEO Jim Farley. Nuno-Whelan won’t.

The new organization of Ford Motor Company and its Lincoln Division

So is Lincoln no longer a sub division of Ford? Does that mean Nuno-Whelan reports to the Board of Directors like Farley? Not quite. Jim Farley is still the big boss. Nuno-Whelan will report to Ford’s C-suite, just answering to Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Materazzo.. They’ll also report to Andrew Frick. More on his title later.

This is just the latest chapter in Ford’s reorganization saga. The automaker recently decided that a single company was over-taxed by trying to serve its massive current market and prepare for future market shifts. The company is now split into three main parts. Ford Blue oversees traditional internal combustion cars sold to regular drivers. Separate is Ford Pro, which serves commercial customers, including government contracts. Ford Model e is the electric division, which includes both vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Though Ford has announced this split, dividing the leadership team’s responsibilities takes time. Andrew Frick is currently the president of Ford Blue and Model e, while also serving as the interim head of Ford Pro. Frick is also the other person the new Lincoln CEO will report to.