In a big news day for Ford Australia, president Bill Osborne has announced his resignation.
Osborne, who became Ford Australia president only in February, this year said in a telephone press conference this afternoon that he would return to the US to take a job outside the car business.
A 31-year veteran of the motor industry who has worked for Chrysler, General Motors and Ford, Osborne during his career said his decision to resign was a “very personal one”. “It in no way reflects any dissatisfaction on my part with the Ford Motor Company and it is not reflective of my ongoing confidence in the Ford Motor Company,” he said.
Osborne took over the big chair at Ford Australia on February 1 after it was vacated by Tom Gorman, who had been president since March 1, 2004. Like Osborne, Gorman left the job to take up a position outside the motor industry.
“I still believe Ford is destined for success," Osborne said. "I remain a Ford stockholder and I retain the utmost confidence in the company.”
He said he’d been offered a job that was too good to refuse and that he left Ford “… with a mixture of sadness and excitement”.
Osborne said his decision was unrelated to Ford Australia’s current difficulties, including today’s announcement that a further 350 manufacturing jobs would be lost from Ford’s Geelong and Broadmeadows plants.
He said he’d been offered a “life-long career dream” of becoming a CEO of an independent company. Although he said he couldn’t say what that job was, he confirmed that he'd be based in the US.
Osborne said he’d announced his resignation this afternoon to head off rumours. “The news was starting to get around Ford Motor Company both here and the United States and we wanted you to hear it from us, as opposed to it being the subject of a number of rumours,” he said.
He said he didn’t know who his successor would be and that a number of candidates had been identified, but he believed an announcement would be made in the next few weeks.
“I retain 100 percent confidence in Ford Australia,” he said. “The difficulties being forced by Ford Australia are being faced by every auto manufacturer in the industry. They’re not endemic to Ford, they’re endemic to how difficult this particular business is at this particular time.”
Asked if he was tempted to stay, to help Ford Australia out of its current problems, Osborne again said he’d resigned only because he’d been offered a “specific, unique opportunity”.
“Even with that opportunity to realise a life-long career dream, it’s been a difficult decision. Today, I can’t tell you I’m not saddened; I am,” he said.
Osborne said he couldn’t take credit for what he called the successful launch of the FG Falcon, and that credit belonged to “the whole Ford Australia team”. However, he said he was happy that he’d been instrumental in formulating a business plan that would put the company on “a very sound footing for the next few years”.
He confirmed that plan involved exporting the Australian-built Focus after production started here in 2011.
“That’s a big part of the plan, and obviously if you have that capability, you want to export as much as you can,” he said. “Obviously, exports will play an important role in our future.”
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