Ford Names New Head of Global Purchasing

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.

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