(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. promoted Chief Financial Officer John Lawler to vice chair to oversee the automaker’s long-term strategy, bolstering its executive ranks as the company works to staunch billion in losses at its electric vehicle unit.

Ford also hired Sherry House, former CFO of EV maker Lucid Motors Inc., as vice president of finance with a plan to have her replace Lawler as CFO early next year, the company said in a statement. House, who also was previously treasurer at Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving unit, will join Ford early next month. She will become Ford’s first female CFO.

In his newly created role, Lawler will be responsible for Ford’s next phase of strategic development, including establishing partnerships with other companies that Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley has said will be critical to becoming profitable in EVs.

This year, Ford has said it expects to lose as much as $5.5 billion at its electric vehicle unit, Model e, as it struggles to cut costs. The carmaker is slashing EV prices and reducing production in a slowing market for battery-electric vehicles.

Lawler, who previously ran Ford’s China operations and had leadership roles in the company’s European business, will also be responsible for engagement with global leaders, the company said. That will include policy discussions on increasingly stringent regulations to combat climate change.

“John is an outstanding strategic business leader and can leverage his talent and global experience to help Ford compete,” Farley said in a statement.

Ford’s shares rose less than 1% at 9:31 a.m. in New York.

House comes to Ford with a background that goes beyond automotive. As a managing director at Deloitte Corporate Finance, she worked on mergers and acquisitions in technology, media and telecommunications.

The moves reflect the urgency Ford is taking to rebalance its business, including cutting spending on EVs by $12 billion and boosting production of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles like the Bronco SUV, as well as of gas-electric hybrid vehicles such as the Maverick pickup. Ford expects its hybrid sales to grow by 40% this year as mainstream buyers reluctant to embrace EVs choose gas-electric models as a middle ground.

The automaker is fast-tracking development of small, affordable EVs that start at $25,000 and will debut in late 2026, Bloomberg has reported. Farley has said those models will make money in their first year on the market.

Finding a path to profitability on EVs is critical to the company’s long-term survival, Lawler said in an interview this month.

“Model e has to stand on its own,” he said. “It needs to be profitable and it has to provide a return on the capital we’re investing.”

(Updates with share trading in seventh paragraph)

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