. Ford Announces Executive Appointments In North
America and Europe
DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor
Company announced the following executive elections and appointments:
North America
Photo: Ford
Derrick Kuzak
Derrick Kuzak is appointed vice president,
North America Engineering, effective August 1. Kuzak is replacing
Will Boddie, Jr., who has elected to retire. Kuzak will have overall
responsibility for engineering signoff of all North American
vehicles and direct responsibility for key commodities and common
platform parts.
Commenting on Boddie's
service at Ford, Phil Martens, group vice president, Product Creation,
said, "Will has been a key member of the product development team and
has done an outstanding job in helping to increase the quality of our cars
and trucks while reducing costs and making our processes operate more
smoothly. We'll miss his expertise as well as his dedication and
commitment to the Company." Regarding Kuzak, Martens said,
"We're pleased to have Derrick in this new role. He brings global
experience and unique skills to a critical area of product
development."
Europe
Photo: Ford
Stephen Odell
Stephen Odell is elected a vice president of
Ford Motor Company, and is appointed vice president, Marketing,
Sales and Service, Ford of Europe, effective September 1. Odell, who
currently serves as chairman elect Ford of Britain, succeeds Geoff
Polites, who recently was appointed chief executive officer, Jaguar
and Land Rover, also effective September 1. In their new roles,
Odell will report to Lewis Booth, chairman and chief executive
officer, Ford of Europe, and Polites will report to Mark Fields,
executive vice president, Premier Automotive Group and Ford of
Europe.
Joe Bakaj is appointed vice
president, Product Development, Ford of Europe, effective August 1. He
leaves a product development role at Mazda Motor Corp. to succeed Derrick
Kuzak.
Commenting on the
appointments, Booth said, "Stephen is well known around Europe. His
experience in helping to revitalize Mazda's business, in Europe and then
globally, will serve him well here. Derrick has played a key role in
steering Ford of Europe through one of the busiest periods our engineering
team has ever seen and the result has been a product offensive that has
done so much to strengthen our business. We wish him all the best in his
new role, and look forward to the contributions that are sure to come from
Joe, a talented engineer and complete car enthusiast who has the
leadership qualities to take us forward into our next period of intense
product launch activity."
