Ford’s Burela boosted to company officer

FORD Motor Co has elected former Ford Australia chief and now Changan Ford Mazda Motor Co president Marin Burela as a company officer, effective June 1.

Elected by Ford’s board of directors overnight, Mr Burela is one of four senior executives in the Asia Pacific and European regions to join an elite group of company officers who are involved in broad decision-making and part of the driving force behind the global auto giant.

The others are Ford Asia Pacific and Africa (APA) vice-president of manufacturing Gary Johnson, Ford APA vice-president of product development Kumar Galhotra, and newly promoted Ford of Europe vice-president of manufacturing Jeff Wood.

Mr Wood moves from his role as director of manufacturing for Ford’s North America Vehicle Assembly Operations, replacing Mike Flewitt, who according to Ford has “elected to leave the company to pursue other career interests”.

Ford’s APA region includes Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Ford Motor Co executive chairman Bill Ford said the appointments “speak both to the wealth of talent we have within Ford and our commitment to deliver our global plan for great products, a strong business and contributions to a better world”.

“We are fortunate to have such a capable global leadership team to implement and achieve the full potential of our plan,” he said.

Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally added that all four executives “play key roles in Ford’s commitment to deliver world-class products globally”.

“Today is another important step to delivering aggressive growth in Asia as well as an exciting, profitably growing company for the good of all of our stakeholders,” he said.

A Geelong native and an electrical engineering graduate from Deakin University, 50-year-old Mr Burela has worked for Ford since 1984 and served in a variety of roles across manufacturing, sales and marketing.

He left his position as executive director of global B-segment (light-car/Fiesta) vehicles in Ford of Europe to become Ford Australia president and CEO in 2008, serving for two years before moving to his current position in China.

He continues to report to chairman and CEO of Ford Motor China David Schoch in a role that involves steering Ford’s Chinese joint venture with state-owned Changan Automobile – one of China’s biggest car-makers – at a time when the Chinese motor industry has rapidly expanded to become the world’s biggest automotive market.