Raj Nair, the head of Ford's US operations, and the man who was behind the successful Ford GT programme at Le Mans has left his role with immediate effect, following an internal investigation into inappropriate behaviour.
Nair is important in motorsport because he was one of the biggest supporters of competition in the top ranks in Detroit. He has long been a Formula 1 fan and keen on sports cars and led the company back to Le Mans in 2016, to win the GT Class on the 50th anniversary of the company's celebrated win in 1966. The son of a college professor, he grew up in St Louis, Missouri and then studied mechanical engineering at the then General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan.
He joined Ford in 1987 and played a key role in developing the F-Series pick-up. He would go on to serve as VP of operations for Ford Asia-Pacific and Africa and in April 2012 was named as Executive VP and Chief Technical Officer of Ford's global product development. He was promoted to be head of the company's US operations after Jim Hackett took over as Ford CEO last summer.
"We made this decision after a thorough review and careful consideration," the company said. "Ford is deeply committed to providing and nurturing a safe and respectful culture and we expect our leaders to fully uphold these values."
Nair ssaid that he sincerely regretted "that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviours consistent with the principles that the company and I have always espoused."
It is not clear what this means. Ford is doing well financially at the moment with solid growth in the fourth-quarter of 2017, beating estimations with revenues of $41.3 billion. Despite this shareholders are worried about Hackett's leadership and the company's share price has dropped from $13.23 in mid-January to $10.70 in recent days, a fall of 19 percent. It remains to seen whether this will impact of the company's motorsport activities, which include a major presence in NASCAR, some support for M-Sport in the World Rally Championship and the GT programme.
Nair's replacement as head of Ford North America is Kumar Galhotra who led the Lincoln Motor Company and was Ford's chief marketing officer.
"We made this decision after a thorough review and careful consideration," the company said. "Ford is deeply committed to providing and nurturing a safe and respectful culture and we expect our leaders to fully uphold these values."
Nair ssaid that he sincerely regretted "that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviours consistent with the principles that the company and I have always espoused."
It is not clear what this means. Ford is doing well financially at the moment with solid growth in the fourth-quarter of 2017, beating estimations with revenues of $41.3 billion. Despite this shareholders are worried about Hackett's leadership and the company's share price has dropped from $13.23 in mid-January to $10.70 in recent days, a fall of 19 percent. It remains to seen whether this will impact of the company's motorsport activities, which include a major presence in NASCAR, some support for M-Sport in the World Rally Championship and the GT programme.
Nair's replacement as head of Ford North America is Kumar Galhotra who led the Lincoln Motor Company and was Ford's chief marketing officer.
Source : JSNL
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