DUNTON, UK, Apr. 19, 2021 – Today, Ford announced that Kieran Cahill will replace Graham Hoare as Board Chair for Ford Motor Company Limited, effective 30 April, and subject to board approval.
In this role, Cahill will continue to ensure the board remains effective in setting and implementing the company’s direction and strategy. He will undertake this role alongside his existing responsibilities as vice-president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe.
“Kieran has shown great leadership over many years in a range of senior leadership positions at Ford and is the right person to take on this role. I also want to express my gratitude to Graham for his many years of service and contributions, and especially in his most recent role in overseeing the transformation of Ford of Britain to make it a stronger business,” said Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe.
Cahill was appointed vice president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe, in October 2020, reporting to Rowley. From July 2020, he was director, Manufacturing, Strategic Projects, Ford of Europe, previously having been director, Manufacturing, U.K. and Romania. Cahill has held a number of other senior management roles in Ford of Europe, including director, Powertrain Operations, from 2016 to 2018. He also has led the Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering and European FPS organizations and held several plant operational senior leadership positions.
Cahill has a Bachelor of Engineering Honours degree in Mechanical and Automotive Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, and a Master of Science degree in Automotive Engineering, Design and Management from the same university. He is a native of South Wales. His interests include cycling, running and motorsports.
Dr. Graham Hoare OBE, currently executive director, Business Transformation and Board Chair, Ford Motor Company Limited, has elected to retire from Ford after 19 years’ service with the company and nearly 40 years in total in the automotive industry. He has successfully led Ford’s operations in the UK through significant reset actions in recent years, most of which were concluded by the end of 2020.
Having joined Land Rover in 1982 as a student apprentice, Hoare’s first role in Ford was as director, Powertrain Research and Advanced Engineering based at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. He returned to Europe, as executive director, European Powertrain Engineering where his achievements included the introduction of the family of EcoBoost Petrol engines, and then as director, Global Vehicle Evaluation and Verification where he oversaw the automotive product test and sign off activities for our global business.
Hoare has been Ford’s representative on the UK Automotive Council for more than 10 years and is its current chair. In 2018, he was bestowed an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the UK Motor Industry. In 2020, he led Ford’s involvement in the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium, creating a production facility in Dagenham and overseeing the industrialisation process that built more than 11,000 Penlon Prima ES02 ventilators for use by the National Health Service for critically ill COVID-19 patients.
He earned primary qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, a master's degree in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick, and an Engineering Doctorate from University of Bath.
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Ford of Britain has been sales leader in the U.K. for passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles for 42 and 54 consecutive years, respectively. A Ford model has been the country’s best-selling passenger vehicle for 46 years, with Fiesta being the country’s top-selling vehicle for the last 10 years. The U.K. is Ford’s third-largest global market and accounts for around 30 percent of total Ford vehicle sales in Europe. Ford directly employs around 6,500 people in the U.K., with many more employed in its extensive dealer network. The Ford Britain Dunton Campus in Essex is the home of its European commercial vehicle business group, the Ford of Britain national sales company, Ford’s banking arm – Ford Credit Europe – and powertrain engineering. Ford’s manufacturing operations are a UK export success story with around 85 percent of engines and 100 percent of transmissions exported to more than 15 countries on six continents. The value of these exports, including machined engine components, is around £2.5 billion annually.
