Top Ford designer to retire after 38 years in industry
Callum helped shape F-150, Mustang Mach-E, Bronco
Moray Callum, global design head at Ford, is retiring after a 38-year automotive design career that most recently included helping to create the 2021 F-150, 2021 Mustang Mach-E and the 2021 Bronco and Bronco Sport, the company announced Monday.
He will be replaced by Anthony Lo, 56, most recently a vice president for exterior design at Groupe Renault, where he has worked for nearly 11 years. Earlier, he worked as a design director at General Motors Europe.
Ford hired Lo directly from Renault, confirmed Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau. Lo will begin transitioning into the role April 1 and will assume leadership when Callum’s retirement takes effect May 1. They report to Hau Thai-Tang, chief product platform and operations manager at Ford.
Callum, 62, a Scotland native easily recognizable by his charming accent, worked for Ford for 20 years in two segments. From 1995 until 2001, when he joined Mazda in Japan for five years to head that company’s design. At the time, Ford had a partnership with and ownership interest in Mazda. Callum returned to Ford in 2006 as executive director of design for the Americas. He was promoted to his current role as vice president of design for Ford and Lincoln brand vehicles worldwide in 2014.
Ford cited career highlights that included the 1999 Super Duty truck, 2011 Explorer, 2005 Mazda MX-5, 2007 Mazda CX-7, 2015 Mustang and F-150, and 2016 GT.
Eric Noble, president of the CarLab design consulting firm in Orange, California, said Monday, “There’s not a designer in the industry that doesn’t know Moray, isn’t familiar with
his work and doesn’t hold him up as a model. The thing is, it’s rare for a designer or design leader to oversee even one landmark design in their career. Moray’s list says it all.”
Callum has worked at Ford for two decades. His first association with Ford dated to the late 1980s as a consultant designer at Ghia SpA in Italy, Ford said. Callum guided development of concept vehicles, including the Ford Ghia Via and the Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale. He also worked for Chrysler in the United Kingdom and for PSA Peugeot Citroën in France on passenger and commercial vehicles, Ford said.
Anthony Lo
Lo, who was born in Hong Kong, started working in the auto industry in 1987 when a professor at Royal College of Art in London where he earned a master’s degree in automotive design, offered him a position at Lotus Cars in England, Ford said. Lo went on to design the Lotus Carlton, the world’s fastest car of its type at the time, Ford said.
“Anthony is a world-class design leader with an exemplary global track record,” Thai-Tang said. “We’re excited to have him lead our Design organization as we accelerate the creation of connected, intelligent and increasingly electrified products.”
Renault design within the European market is innovative, said Noble, who does not know Lo personally. “The company is viewed as a design leader. The challenge for Lo is going to be the American market does not have the same appetite for quirkiness that the French market does. That doesn’t mean creativity is off limits. It means that creativity for creativity’s sake is a potential pitfall for a global carmaker as large as Ford.”
Lo said his familiarity with Ford began as a young adult on the streets of Hong Kong, where the Ford brand has and maintains a strong presence, Ford said in its release.
“Later, he discovered the popularity of Ford in England and Continental Europe, ‘where it’s like a national brand,’ “the release said. Models such as the Sierra RS Cosworth, “with its imposing floating rear spoiler and track-racing pedigree to match,” made a lasting impression on him, Ford said.
At Renault for the past decade, Lo and his team implemented the strategy in Renault’s global lineup of cars and SUVs, Ford said.
“With the speed of evolving technologies and expectations, I believe cars will change more in the next decade than they have in the last century,” Lo said in a statement. “Leading this change at Ford is a dream job for any car designer, and we’re going to embrace this era with open minds, ingenuity and breakthrough design solutions.”
“There’s not a designer in the industry that doesn’t know Moray, isn’t familiar with his work and doesn’t hold him up as a model.”
Eric Noble, president of the CarLab design consulting firm in Orange, California
Saab, GM and Mercedes
Lo joined Saab in in 2000. From 2004 to 2010, Lo was director of advanced design for GM, overseeing Saab, Opel and Vauxhall projects. Earlier, Lo was with Mercedes-Benz in Japan, working on the company’s Maybach concept and S-Class vehicles, as well as Audi in Germany, the Ford release said.
In addition to earning a graduate degree from the Royal College of Art, Lo graduated in 1985 from Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a degree in industrial design.