Ford's Joe Hinrichs honored at Pudong Business Person of the Year awards

As Ford continues to deepen its commitment to growing in China, an expanding lineup of class-leading global vehicles isn't the only part of the company that is making an impression.

After a selection period spanning nearly nine months, Ford's Joe Hinrichs, now
Executive Vice-President and President of The Americas, and Group Vice-President, Asia Pacific and Africa from 2009-2012, has been named one of 10 winners of the inaugural Pudong Business Person of the Year award. The results were announced at an event in Shanghai attended by key officials from Pudong and Shanghai government.

"It is a great honor to be named as a Pudong Business Person of the Year. Shanghai and Pudong mean a great deal to me personally, and Ford's presence in Pudong shows our strong commitment to China, a key engine for our global growth in the next decade," said Hinrichs. "This accolade really should be viewed as a reflection of the phenomenal efforts and progress made by our entire China team in achieving the aggressive growth plan we outlined three years ago to bring 15 new vehicles to China by 2015."

Hinrichs is the only automotive industry executive included in this year's awards.

While based in Shanghai as group vice president of Ford in Asia Pacific from October 2009 to November 2012, Hinrichs led the company's regional growth plan, positioning Asia Pacific and China as an engine of growth for Ford globally as it works to increase worldwide sales to 8-million vehicles a year by mid-decade. Sixty to 70 per cent of Ford's global growth in the next decade is expected to come from the Asia Pacific region.

From November 2010 to December 2011, Hinrichs was also chairman and CEO of Ford China. During his tenure, Hinrichs oversaw the development of Ford’s aggressive growth plan for China, committing to bring a full lineup of Ford's next-generation of quality, fuel-efficient, safe vehicles with smart technologies to the Chinese customers. To support the 15x15 product plan, Ford also is doubling its dealer network and expanding its manufacturing footprint to double its capacity to over one million passenger vehicles annually by 2015.

"We are very proud of Joe for winning the Pudong Business Person of the Year award," said John Lawler, Chairman and CEO of Ford China. "Under Joe's leadership, together with our partners, we have mapped out a great plan for Ford's accelerated growth in China. The job now is to implement that plan and bring it to life for all our partners and customers in China. While the launch of six new vehicles over the past 12 months, including the new Focus, Kuga, EcoSport, the new Fiesta, Focus ST and the new Explorer, indicates that we are well on track to deliver on our plan, the enthusiastic market response for these vehicles is a testament that our plan is working. We look forward to building on our success and going further for our Chinese customers with a comprehensive range of vehicles that they both love and value."

Posted in: Asia Pacific,Award,China,Executive Vice-President,Ford,International,Joe Hinrichs,John Lawler,Pudong Business Person of the Year,Shanghai