The turnaround at Ford Motor is finally starting to take hold, chief financial officer Bob Shanks told CNBC on Thursday.

The automaker is in the midst of an $11 billion restructuring plan and aims to slash costs by $14 billion over the next five years.

"The ship is starting to turn after a lot of work on the fitness of the business, rethinking the product portfolio, working on a number of alliances," Shanks said on "Closing Bell" shortly after the company released its first-quarter earnings report.

Ford saw its shares jump almost 8% on Thursday after it announced earnings that beat expectations. It pointed to strong demand for its popular pickup trucks and SUVs in North America.