Faraday Future announced today that it has appointed a new vice president of manufacturing, Rich Schmidt, who will be responsible for leading FF’s manufacturing team and the factory in Hanford, California, and overseeing development, Parts and tooling management and recruitment.
Rich Schmidt succeeds Mathias Hofmann, Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain, FF, who has also served as Head of Manufacturing Operations for the past eight months, and Mathias will continue in his role as Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain, FF.
On April 14, FF announced that it had completed production of its first mass-produced vehicle, the FF 91 Futurist electric vehicle, and rolled off the production line at the company’s FF ieFactory California production line in Hanford, California. Prior to this, FF had just announced the start of production of FF 91.
Officially, Schmidt Rich Schmidt began his career at Toyota Motor in Georgetown, Kentucky, USA, where he worked for 16 years, primarily in manufacturing and engineering. After Toyota, he led the start-up and smooth operations of several major OEMs in North America. He has worked in manufacturing and engineering at companies including Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Tesla. Rich Schmidt left Tesla to start his own consulting firm and spent many years consulting with JD Powers, Kia Motors, Honda Motor, Plastic Omnium, Gibson Guitar, and many other valuable partners. Additionally, Rich Schmidt has held manufacturing leadership roles at Lordstown Motors and Canoo.
“As the production scale of FF ieFactory California gradually expands, we are very pleased to welcome Rich Schmidt to our growing team,” said Chen Xuefeng, FF Global CEO, “Rich Schmidt brings a wealth of experience to FF, and he will help oversee FF’s flagship electric the manufactures and delivery of the FF 91 will help ensure that FF provides the best products for every valued user.”
As of press time, Faraday Future’s U.S. stocks rose by more than 18%.
