DETROIT – Ford Motor’s Bill Ford is no longer chairman of the automaker’s board of directors, nonetheless he’s nonetheless working the current.

The automaker’s board voted ultimate week to amend Ford’s bylaws to “undertake gender-neutral language all via, along with the title ‘chair’ quite than ‘chairman,'” primarily based on a contemporary regulatory submitting.

Bill Ford’s new title is solely “chair.”

The modifications which took influence immediately, are a reasonably large step for the historically male-dominated auto industry. They arrive after large swaths of firm American have promised workers and merchants to be further inclusive and focus on vary efforts following social unrest inside the wake of the #MeToo movement and George Floyd’s murder ultimate yr.

“Our roles at Ford aren’t gender distinctive and these modifications help limit ambiguity and contribute to the inclusive and equitable custom we’re creating,” Ford spokeswoman Marisa Bradley acknowledged in an emailed assertion.

A spokesman for General Motors acknowledged Monday it moreover eradicated the “chairman” title from CEO Mary Barra in commerce for “chair” in Would possibly. He acknowledged GM did not change its bylaws nonetheless made the modifications internally and to the company’s site.

“Mary Barra’s title adjustment from Chairman and CEO to Chair and CEO is just one of many modifications at Regular Motors in our journey to be most likely probably the most inclusive agency on the planet,” David Barnas, a corporation spokesman, acknowledged in an emailed assertion.

Barra adopted the “chairman” title when she began most important the automaker’s board in January 2016. She is the first female CEO and chair of any most important automaker.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. made headlines earlier this yr by erasing its bylaws of gender designations as correctly.