By Mike Ramsey
Ford Motor Co. (F) said Hau Thai-Tang, currently the auto
maker's vice president of engineering, will take over as head of
global purchasing on Aug. 1.
The appointment follows the retirement of Tony Brown, 57, who
has led the auto maker's $90 billion worldwide purchasing
operations for the past 11 years.
Mr. Thai-Tang, 46, will be a group vice president reporting to
Ford chief operating officer Mark Fields. Mr. Thai-Tang's position
as vice president of engineering will be filled by Kumar Galhotra,
who currently runs product development in Asia. Trevor Worthington
will replace Galhotra in Asia.
Ford said Birgit Behrendt will be named vice president of global
programs and Americas purchasing operations, and Burt Jordan will
be vice president of global vehicle, powertrain purchasing and
supplier diversity. Ford said Ms. Behrendt will be responsible for
"leveraging Ford's global scale to improve costs and operational
efficiency."
Ford said Mr. Jordan will be responsible for all commodity
related purchasing and supplier sourcing globally. Both executives
will report to Mr. Thai-Tang.
Mr. Brown, 57, led Ford's purchasing operations during a
challenging period for the No. 2 U.S. auto maker as it restructured
to reverse deep losses. During Mr. Brown's tenure, Ford separated
itself from Visteon Corp. (VC), the spinoff parts maker that was
created from Ford's internal parts divisions, and the company had
to respond as hundreds of its parts makers went out of business
during the recession. Mr. Brown joined Ford in 1999.
Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com
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