Iberian legal affairs director | Ford España
Javier Vives
Iberian legal affairs director | Ford España
Bio
I joined Ford Credit in 1987. In 1989, I started to work for the Legal Department of Ford Credit.
In 2002, I participated in one of the first retail car loan securitisations launched by Ford Credit, in Spain and Italy. In 2003, I worked in the first dealer floorplan securitisation in Spain. In 2005, I helped to launch the first balloon retail loan securitisation in the Spanish market, and in the sale of the full-service lease business of Ford in Spain as well as in a cooperation to conduct full-service lease business with a well-known renting company.
In 2006, I started to work as a securitisation lawyer for Ford Credit Europe, based in the United Kingdom. I participated in the launch of deals in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Finland and Ireland.
In 2008, I became the Legal Affairs Manager of Ford Spain. In that position I worked in the launch of the vehicle holding compound (common compound for the cars of all dealers in Spain). In 2011, we negotiated the new dealer and authorised repairers’ agreements subject to the BER of 2010.
In 2013, I attended the Academy of American and International Law in Dallas. In October 2015, I was promoted to my current position as Legal Affairs Director and Secretary of Ford Spain and took over the legal advice of Portugal. In Portugal, in 2016, we were successful in a litigation before the Constitutional Court that ended up ruling as unconstitutional the non-automatic suspension of the obligation to pay a fine if the party appealed in court the decision of the Competition Authority. Also, in 2016 I participated in the negotiations to obtain two port concessions for the shipment of the cars manufactured by Ford in Valencia.
In 2018, we maintained production in Valencia, despite the strike of suppliers rendering services inside the manufacturing plant. I also provided legal advice as Ford of Europe lawyer in the sale of the Nordic European Ford Credit Operations to a European bank.
In 2019 and 2020, I advised Ford Europe in the signature of cooperations agreements with a well-known European bank to provide retail credit to Ford customers in Poland, Portugal and Benelux. In 2021, the lawyers of Ford Spain took over the legal advice of Ford Credit and we extended the cooperation with the Portuguese bank to finance Ford dealers. Since 2022, we are defending the Company in the competition damages actions prompted by customers who purchase cars from 2026 to 20213, saving around 87% of the amounts claimed.
In 2023 we were able to maintain production in Almussafes and its suppliers’ industrial park despite the strike of a main logistic supplier, by obtaining an inaudita parte debitoris injunction and I participated in the obtention of PERTE public aid. During the period 2022 to 2024, I provided legal advice in the successful collective dismissals at Ford Spain impacting a substantive proportion of the workforce.
How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?
We address periods of instability or crises with serenity, ensuring that all affected departments are involved (e.g. Public Affairs for cases that could create buzz in the media, as well as the main business functions impacted), while avoiding overreaction. Cases must be well analysed and assessed, seeking the necessary information from the areas affected and asking questions to ascertain all relevant facts, in order to take the correct or best decision.
We are part of the business team and participate in most business decisions as any other department. There are no “noes” in advance – impossible is not an answer. There are always potential solutions and ways to improve our resilience, even in the worst scenarios. We are always open to new ideas and solutions, and there is no good legal solution if it does not make sense from a business perspective.
Unless there is a clear reason that justifies it (such as creating a necessary precedent), all legal actions must make financial sense. We do not like to litigate, but we do not fear it, and if there is no other option, we go for it—though we always remain open to alternative solutions. We like to explore potential friendly (out-of-court) solutions.
In any case, we must learn from every crisis, as each brings an opportunity to improve the way we do business—whether in agreements, provisions, practices, or how we carry out our activities—and to apply the lessons learned.
What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?
Damages actions arising from a competition infringement later confirmed by the Supreme Court, for exchanging what was construed as strategic and secret information with 20 other OEMs in the automotive sector over seven years. To date, more than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed, with claims amounting to tens of millions. We are obtaining around 35% of judgments with 0% of damages granted and 75% of judgments with an average of 5% of damages from the purchase prices paid for the cars, significantly less than the 15% of damages claimed on average.
We have several litigation cases against a former global supplier that is suing our company and other Ford Group entities worldwide before both mercantile and criminal courts. A former employee has filed a criminal complaint against several employees. The new collective dismissal at our Valencia Manufacturing Plant affects around 600 employees, and a temporary unemployment scheme impacting approximately 1,000 employees will remain in place until 2027. A former supplier, which had been providing multiple compound services within our manufacturing plant, is claiming that we should subrogate its workforce, a situation we successfully averted through a smart business decision advised by legal. Two lawsuits from former dealers are seeking millions in damages.
We are also managing the restructuring of our distribution networks (sales and aftersales) in Spain and Portugal, the implementation of the Spanish Whistleblowing Law transposing the EU Directive on the same matter, and the reinforcement of our corporate governance in Spain. In Portugal, we are negotiating a deal with a Full-Service Lease Company for the sale of lease agreements under the ‘Ford Renting’ brand. The closure of the Portuguese branch of Ford Credit is also underway.
Additionally, we are handling insurance claims by Ford, our dealers – who suffered thousands of severely damaged vehicles – and suppliers, whose industrial buildings and tooling were swept away, to the National Insurance Consortium following the recent DANA floods in Valencia in October. The collective dismissal of the Spanish branch of Ford Credit has been resolved peacefully. Finally, we are working with accounting teams, both local and global, to determine how to comply with the EU CSRD in Spain.
How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?
In every task we are entrusted with and in every matter we handle, we must defend and foster the integrity of our company (Ford). A strong compliance programme is essential to protecting the company, proactively avoiding potential problems and crises, while also enhancing its resilience and improving the way we carry out our activities. These principles must be applied throughout the organisation and must come from the top, setting the best example for the rest of the company at all levels.
The company invests millions in ESG, not only because it is the right thing to do but also for the benefit of society, our suppliers and dealers, our customers, and our stakeholders. Ford is committed to protecting the environment, both in our production plants and our products, and the Legal Department plays a key role in helping the company achieve these objectives—whether by assisting with renewable energy agreements, supporting initiatives to repurpose non-usable car batteries to store electricity generated by our solar plants in Valencia for future reuse, or helping the company make environmentally beneficial investments.
On the social front, we unfortunately had to reduce our workforce in Valencia recently, but we have taken every step to mitigate the impact, working closely with our unions and exploring the least harmful solutions. This has included re-employing affected workers by insourcing services previously provided by suppliers and investing in training to prepare them for future roles when we expect increased production in Valencia.
The company is also strengthening its governance practices. In this regard, we recently prepared a new desk procedure, mirroring Ford’s global approach, to oversee and protect our participations in various affiliates while safeguarding our managers involved in their governance bodies.
The Legal Department is an open and approachable team, always ready to listen and provide the best possible advice, even going beyond legal guidance when necessary.
How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?
We are incorporating AI tools (Co-Pilot and ChatGPT) into our daily work with documents, translations, reviewing legal texts, contractual provisions, and more. There is a global initiative within the US Legal Department to integrate AI into our legal operations, which is still ongoing but has already saved millions in legal fees. I am currently working with the Legal Technology Team to explore how we can use “Co-Counsel” within our local legal department.
We are also requiring our outside law firms, particularly in large-scale litigation (such as the competition damages actions), to utilise AI to thoroughly understand the cases and determine the most effective actions to improve our defence strategy and outcomes. For example, AI helps us identify jurisdictions where we typically lose, pinpoint courts where we could achieve favourable results, analyse expert opinions from the opposition that are considered by judges, and find ways to reduce legal fees.
What role does the legal department play in promoting and ensuring corporate social responsibility in your organisation?
It is key. First, we need to be the example for the rest of the company (there is no better motivation for the rest than a good example and act as you claim the rest have to do) and legal is the main keeper of “corporate social responsibility”. In every legal strategy/case we need to consider “corporate social responsibility” as one of the main factors that runs our decisions and actions. We can’t win no matter the impact for the reputation of the company is. On the other hand, every year we dedicate several hours to Pro-Bono with some of our outside law firms and we actively participate in the community days organized by our company. But we also promote that each of us participate/work in similar initiatives.
What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Spain over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?
New Regulations. Spanish companies are now exposed to levels of regulation never before experienced, coming from both Spain and the EU. I see challenges in the implementation of all the new laws that are coming into force. In our case, we are currently dealing with the complexities of the Damages EU Directive, the EU Actions of Representation Directive, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in Spain, the new labour law in Spain (Equality Plans, increased difficulty with dismissals, etc.), the amendment of the Spanish Legal Proceedings, and increasingly demanding environmental laws (containers, cars, etc.).
We must also navigate compliance with the EU Taxonomy, as well as the car industry-specific regulations such as the CAFE Regulations, the NIS2 Directive, new consumer protection laws, GDPR, and the AI Regulation. We will have to address all of this with the same, or even fewer, resources, meaning we’ll need to use new IT tools more efficiently and prioritise our limited resources effectively.
At Ford, we approach everything in the legal department globally whenever possible. For example, we will work with Accounting to ensure a global approach to CSRD compliance. Likewise, cybersecurity will be managed globally, and we will ensure that this global strategy works for Spain by implementing only what is strictly required locally.
In terms of whistleblowing, we have implemented local measures, including a complementary local code of conduct and a Spanish legal review of all activities explaining what our local laws stipulate. However, we always leverage our global investigation teams, systems, and speak-up website, ensuring that everything is coordinated with our global departments. We take a multinational approach to these matters.
New environmental laws, such as those related to containers and vehicles that are out of use, will be addressed locally, but we will coordinate these actions with our global departments at Ford. The only areas where we will have to work locally, but in close collaboration with HR, are labour legal developments or addressing the new local law on parity representation in corporate governance bodies. However, in this area, we have aligned with the US Corporate Office.
GDPR and AI will be approached globally, with a European Data Protection Officer (DPO) and European privacy lawyers working alongside the Global Privacy Chief Officer. However, we will also ensure that these global initiatives are effectively implemented at the local level. In any legal project, we will work closely with the affected business units.
Iberian legal affairs director | Ford España
Legal affairs director Ford Iberia | Ford España
Javier Vives assumed his current position as the legal affairs director of Ford Spain in November 2015, becoming responsible for all legal matters of the business in Portugal. In charge...
