- Raj Nair appointed Vice President of Operations, Asia Pacific and Africa
- Jeffrey Wellman appointed Executive Director of Purchasing, Asia Pacific and Africa
- Both appointments were effective August 1, 2008
BANGKOK, Thailand - August 18, 2008 - Ford Motor Company has announced two key appointments to its Asia Pacific and Africa (APA) executive management team, effective August 1, 2008: Raj Nair as Vice President of Operations, Asia Pacific and Africa; and Jeffrey Wellman as Executive Director of Purchasing, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Both Nair and Wellman are based in Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. Nair reports directly to John Parker, executive vice president, Asia Pacific and Africa. Wellman reports to both Nair and Tony Brown, Ford group vice president, Global Purchasing.
In his new role, Nair has overall responsibility for Product Development, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Quality and Information Technology within the Asia Pacific and Africa region. In his new role, Wellman has overall responsibility for Purchasing and Supply Chain management across the Asia Pacific and Africa region.
"The addition of Raj and Jeff to our APA leadership team, and their respective contributions, will be critical to driving the successful and ongoing expansion of our operations in the region," said Parker. "Each brings an extensive resume of experience and knowledge within Ford Motor Company, and I'm confident their leadership will be a key ingredient in the overall future direction of our business."
Nair joined Ford Motor Company in 1987, and has held a number of senior positions in Ford Motor Company in Manufacturing, Product Development and Purchasing. Prior to his current role, he was Executive Director, Commodity Business Planning, North America, where he led a cross-functional team responsible for improving Ford's material cost competitiveness. Prior to this role, he was Executive Director, North American Product Development, responsible for the engineering and development for all Truck and SUV programs.
Nair's first role at Ford was as Body and Assembly Operations launch engineer and held various positions on more than 11 vehicle launches in 13 assembly plants. While posted in Europe, Nair was the Vehicle Operations Launch Manager for the 1996 European Fiesta. He then became responsible for all Ford of Europe launches including the 1999 Focus, 2000 Transit and 2001 Mondeo.
Nair holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with an automotive specialty from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, and was named the recipient of the 2007 Kettering Alumni Achievement Award in Engineering.
Wellman joined Ford Motor Company in 1981, and has held various management positions in Purchasing. Prior to his current role, Wellman served as Director, Global Facilities, Materials and Services Purchasing, where he was responsible for the procurement of non-production commodities and services globally.
For nearly two years, Wellman was a Purchasing Director in the Americas Production Purchasing organization, where he was responsible for divestitures, including transactions associated with Automotive Components Holdings and Visteon. He also served as Global Power Train Purchasing Director, based in North America.
Wellman holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Northern Michigan University and a Master's of Business Administration from Michigan State University.
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Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 229,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.