Ford Motor Company today announced that Dianne Craig, president, Lincoln, has elected to retire at the end of April after an accomplished 38-year career with the company. Joaquin Nuno-Whelan will succeed Craig as president, Lincoln.
Craig has served as president of Lincoln since late 2022. During her tenure, Lincoln diversified its global product portfolio, launched the award-winning Nautilus, the all-new Lincoln Navigator and introduced Lincoln’s Digital Experience and Rejuvenate. Under her leadership, Lincoln achieved its best U.S. retail sales in 17 years, and in China, the brand continued to grow sales of the all-new Nautilus despite fierce competition.
“Dianne’s leadership of Lincoln has been exceptional, with solid profits and sales,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “Throughout her distinguished career, Dianne’s outstanding results can be linked to positive leadership, working relationships, and especially her love and respect for our dealer partners.”
Prior to her role with Lincoln, Dianne held a number of leadership roles in her 38 years at Ford, including serving as president of International Markets group, president of Ford of Canada and chief executive officer at FordDirect. Through her career, she also held a variety of sales and marketing positions that were instrumental in helping her build deep relationships at Ford and with Ford and Lincoln dealers.
“I am deeply grateful for the incredible journey and wealth of experiences gained during my career with Ford,” said Craig. “Starting at Lincoln and concluding my career leading the revitalization of the global Lincoln business has truly been an honor. Over the years, it has been a privilege to work around the world with talented teams of amazing people and having the opportunity of a lifetime to forge wonderful partnerships and friendships with our Ford and Lincoln dealers.”
With these changes, Nuno-Whelan will become president of Lincoln effective May 1 and will report to Ford CMO Lisa Materazzo with dual reporting to Andrew Frick, president, Ford Blue and Model e and interim head of Ford Pro.
In this role, he will be responsible for leading Lincoln globally and for the continued evolution and growth of Lincoln as a world-class luxury brand. He will continue to advance the brand’s global product portfolio and develop differentiated, connected experiences for Lincoln customers around the world.
“With Joaquin’s deep product knowledge and his experience in luxury vehicle development, he will play a critical role in guiding the evolution of the Lincoln brand and its next generation global product portfolio and connected experiences,” said Materazzo. “Lincoln is at an exciting moment in its revitalization, and he will bring a fresh and unique perspective to our luxury brand.”
Nuno-Whelan brings more than 25 years of global experience in vehicle and technology development to this role, with a strong focus on luxury brands and premium vehicle development. He joined Ford in 2024 as the Vehicle Program Director for full-size utilities which included responsibility for the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition.
Prior to joining Ford, he was the senior vehicle line director for new programs at Rivian and held several leadership roles during his more than 20 years at General Motors where he contributed to the development of premium vehicle lines.
Nuno-Whelan holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Detroit Mercy and a master’s of science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
