Ford New Zealand announces appointment of Managing Director

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 6 July 2011 – Ford New Zealand is pleased to announce the appointment of Neale Hill as Managing Director of Ford New Zealand. Neale Hill is coming from the Ford Asia Pacific and Africa (APA) head office, in Shanghai, where he has been the Cross Carline Brand Manager for the last three years. He starts as Ford New Zealand Managing Director on 25 July.

Trevor Auger, who has served as Ford New Zealand Managing Director for the last three years, has chosen to move into a sales management position at Ford New Zealand.

"It has been a privilege working for Ford New Zealand as Managing Director and I'm very proud of what the team has accomplished in the time I've been here," said Trevor Auger. "I'm also pleased to be able to hand over the reins to someone new that can in turn come in with their own ideas and talents to continue driving the organisation and the brand forward."

Neale joined Ford Motor Company South Africa in 1991 as a Graduate Trainee in the Marketing and Sales Department. From 1991 to 2006 he held the positions of Ford Advertising Manager, Ford Regional Sales Manager and Marketing Manager.

In 2006, Neale was transferred to the APA Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand to take up the position of Regional Launch Manager for all passenger cars. During that time his key responsibility was the co-ordination of the Fiesta launch for the APA region. In 2009, Neale was appointed as the APA Cross Carline Brand Manager when the APA Regional Office relocated to Shanghai, China. The Cross Carline Brand Manager acts as a key interface with the global marketing team and the role covers a number of key elements in product marketing including regional product marketing governance and APA Cross Carline strategies.

With a range of interests well-suited to the country, including golf, photography, sport (especially rugby and cricket), mountain biking, bird watching and generally being outdoors, Neale is very much looking forward to relocating to New Zealand.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.fordmotorcompany.com

For more information regarding Ford New Zealand products, please visit: www.ford.co.nz

ENDS

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