Ford: John Fleming EVP, manufacturing and labor to retire
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John Fleming, executive vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs, has elected to retire after more than 48 years at Ford.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Fleming served dual roles as Chairman and CEO of Ford of Europe and executive vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs.
He assumed singular responsibility for leading the company’s global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs operations upon completion of the sale of Volvo Car Corporation on August 2, 2010.
In his role as Ford of Europe’s chief, Mr. Fleming was responsible for Ford of Europe, Volvo Car Corporation and Ford’s Export Operations & Global Growth Initiatives.
He was elected to the position in October 2008 after serving as a Ford group vice president and president and chief executive officer, Ford of Europe since 2005.
Prior to that, he was vice president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe, with responsibility for all European manufacturing facilities and operations.
Before taking over as vice president Manufacturing, Mr. Fleming was executive director of the Ford Stamping Business Unit in the United States, an operation he was responsible for establishing.
Prior to that assignment he served as director of Global Manufacturing Engineering and New Model Programs.
Mr. Fleming joined Ford in 1967 at the company’s Halewood facility on Merseyside, where he was involved in manufacturing processes for the then new Ford Escort.
He was appointed production manager of the plant’s paint facility in 1984 and continued with responsibility for this and other areas in a number of management roles until 1988, when he left to assume European responsibility for Paint, Trim and Chassis Engineering.
He returned to Halewood in 1991 as general manufacturing manager of Ford’s Halewood Operations.
Mr. Fleming was subsequently appointed operations manager of Halewood Operations in 1993. In 1995 he was assigned to the U.S. as program operations manager for Vehicle Operations, responsible for managing four automotive assembly plants and three stamping and component plants.
He holds an Honorary Degree from the John Moores University in Liverpool and production engineering qualifications from North East London Polytechnic.
Bruce Hettle who is named group vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs, is succeeding Mr. Fleming.
Mr. Hettle currently is vice president, North America Manufacturing, a position in which he has served since January 2014.
He also is responsible for the company’s worldwide engineering support for stamping, vehicle and powertrain manufacturing, as well as Ford’s Material Planning & Logistics, Ford Production System, Manufacturing Business Office and Labor Affairs organizations.
He previously served as vice president North America Manufacturing. Mr. Hettle joined Ford in 1986 and has spent his entire 29-year career with the company in manufacturing.
Prior to leading North American Manufacturing, he managed Ford’s manufacturing engineering group as executive director, Global Vehicle Operations Manufacturing Engineering.
In addition to other leadership roles, Hettle served as director for Ford’s Manufacturing Business Office, and was plant manager for Wayne Stamping and Assembly and Edison Assembly.
Mr. Hettle holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Oakland University, and a master’s degree in engineering management from Wayne State University.
Gary Johnson who is named vice president, North America Manufacturing, is succeeding Mr. Hettle.
Previously, Mr. Johnson has been vice president, Asia Pacific Manufacturing since January 2010.
He previously served as vice president of Manufacturing Operations for Asia Pacific since January 2010 where he was responsible for 19 manufacturing facilities in 11 markets across 11 time zones.
In Asia Pacific, he was overseeing a host of new vehicle and engine launches, as well as the construction of ten new plants in the region – seven in China, two in India and one in Thailand – the company’s largest expansion in 50 years.
Mr. Johnson has worked in manufacturing and quality for more than 29 years in increasing levels of responsibility in various locations, and is a leader in lean manufacturing.
Among his assignments in North America, he served as director of manufacturing for engine operations and director of vehicle operations for quality.
Mr. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University.
Raj Nair is named executive vice president, Product Development and chief technical officer, effective December 1, 2015.
Since April 2012, Mr. Nair had been group vice president of Product Development and CTO.
Prior to 2012 as vice president of Engineering for Product Development, he oversaw all engineering for car, truck and SUV vehicles for the Ford and Lincoln brands, and was responsible for delivering on Ford’s commitment to offer more new products faster than ever before by leveraging greater sharing and reuse of platforms and components globally.
He also helped lead the development and implementation of the Ford brand DNA. Previously, Mr. Nair served for three years as vice president, Operations, Asia Pacific.
In this position, he was responsible for Product Development, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Quality and Information Technology within the Asia Pacific region.
Mr. Nair has held a number of senior positions in Manufacturing, Product Development and Purchasing.
He previously was executive director, Commodity Business Planning, where he led a cross-functional team responsible for improving Ford’s material cost competitiveness.
Prior to that, he was executive director, North American Product Development, responsible for the engineering and development for all truck and SUV programs including the Ford F-Series, Explorer and Expedition.
In 2000, Mr. Nair was appointed director, New Model Programs, Advanced & Manufacturing Engineering, Vehicle Operations.
In this position, he was responsible for all Ford North American Vehicle Operations launches, oversaw the New Model Programs Development Center and helped reinstitute Ford’s Launch Quality Operating System.
Mr. Nair joined Ford Motor Company in 1987 as a Body and Assembly Operations launch engineer and held various positions on more than 11 vehicle programs in 13 assembly plants. On assignment to Europe, he was the Vehicle Operations launch manager for the 1996 European Fiesta.
He then became responsible for all Ford of Europe launches including the Focus, Transit and Mondeo.
Mr. Nair holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with an automotive specialty from Kettering University in Flint, Mich., and was named the recipient of the 2012 Kettering Alumni Award for Management Achievement.
In 2014, he was named the Fortune Automotive Businessperson of the Year. In addition to his duties at Ford, Mr. Nair serves on the board of directors of the Michigan Science Center and the board of trustees of Kettering University.
Joy Falotico is named chief operating officer, Ford Motor Credit Company.
Ms. Falotico also has been elected a Ford Motor Company corporate officer. Currently, Ms. Falotico is executive vice president, Ford Credit Marketing, Sales, Americas and Strategic Planning. She has led marketing, sales and the Americas since 2013, with strategic planning responsibilities added in January.
Ms. Falotico serves on the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) board of directors and executive committee.
She has been chair of the AFSA Vehicle Finance Division Board since January 2014.
She was recognized by Automotive News as one of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry in 2010 and 2015. ■