- Joe Greenwell appointed chairman, Ford of Britain
- Nigel Sharp appointed managing director, Ford of Britain
- Roelant de Waard becomes vice-president of sales, Ford of Europe
BRENTWOOD, Essex, December 17, 2008 – Joe Greenwell has been appointed chairman, Ford of Britain, and Nigel Sharp has been named managing director, from January 1, 2009. They replace Roelant de Waard, who has held both roles since February 1, 2006. Roelant de Waard becomes vice-president of sales for Ford of Europe.
Joe Greenwell has been Ford Motor Company's UK-based vice-president for governmental affairs since 2005, and was previously chairman and CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover.
Nigel Sharp became sales director on January 1, 2006 after holding senior finance, sales and marketing appointments across Europe, including stints as managing director of Ford's operations in Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Turkey.
In his new role, Roelant de Waard will be responsible for sales across the company's European organisation, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Russia. He will be based at Ford's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany.
"Roelant has done an excellent job of leading the Ford of Britain organisation since February 2006. With these appointments, we are putting in place the final elements of a re-organisation of our sales organisation which we started planning following Stephen Odell's move to Volvo earlier this year," said Ingvar Sviggum, vice-president, marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe.
"We have created a structure which, under Roelant's leadership, will allow us to maximise our sales opportunities across all of the 51 markets in which Ford of Europe is now represented.
"In Britain, we felt the requirement for the company and the industry to have a strong voice with government and other key external organisations meant it was appropriate, once again, to separate the chairman and managing director roles. Joe Greenwell has considerable experience in this field, including as chairman and CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover. He was recently confirmed as the 2009 president of the UK automotive industry's trade organisation, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. As Ford of Britain chairman, Joe will play a vital ambassadorial role for the company and he and Nigel Sharp will make a formidable team," Sviggum added.
Other changes to the sales organisation announced today include:
- Jon Wellsman replaces Nigel Sharp as sales director, Ford of Britain
- Bernhard Soltermann, currently managing director of Ford Austria, is appointed regional director of the newly-integrated Ford Austria and Ford Switzerland
- Wolfgang Kopplin moves from his position as managing director Ford Switzerland, to become director of product marketing for Ford of Europe, replacing Wellsman