James Todd Kloeb, former head of material planning and logistics for the Americas at Ford, joins Lucid Motors as global vice president of MP&L

James Todd Kloeb revealed on May 24 that he is joining the California-based EV manufacturer Lucid Motors as global vice president of material planning and logistics (M&PL). 

Kloeb shared the news on LinkedIn, with a post saying: “Excited to share that I’ve taken on the role of global VP of material planning and logistics at Lucid Motors! #CompromiseNothing.” 

Kloeb spent 34 years working for Ford, having joined the company in 1990. Prior to his career break last October, he served as director of MP&L for North America. In this role, he oversaw a variety of inbound and outbound functions, including managing customs and supply chain. At Lucid he is expected to hold similar responsibilities on a global scale.

Lucid has been showing signs of expanding its international operations, having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Panasonic for the supply of its 2170 EV batteries in December 2022 and announced a partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia focused on EV innovation and research.  

The company has also welcomed several other executives over the last two months. Dr Kay Stepper joined as VP of advanced driver-assistance systems, while two other Ford alumni also assumed management roles at Lucid. Jason Ryska, formerly the plant manager at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, was appointed VP of global manufacturing engineering, and Adrian Price was named SVP of operations. Like Kloeb, Price had been with Ford since in the 1990s and held a variety of roles, most recently serving as executive director of global manufacturing engineering.  

Marc Winterhoff, Interim CEO at Lucid, pointed to these appointments as being beneficial to the company’s growth: “These executive appointments further strengthen our leadership team and add to our ability to deliver continued growth and world-class technology leadership.” 

The importance of effective management is a theme that Lucid has previously addressed in conversations with Automotive Logistics. Speaking during his Red Sofa at Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global 2024, Sid Philar, senior manager of global logistics procurement at Lucid Motors, noted that strong leadership plays a key role in building effective partnerships in automotive logistics. He said effective leadership supports communication and coordination across internal teams and stressed the value of “ongoing communication and regular feedback”. This approach, he added, also extends to external partnerships, which he described as “a two-way street.” Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships is key to ensuring an efficient and resilient supply chain, he said.