The chief product officer has moved into the local CEO role and will oversee marketing along with sales, service and dealers.
Andrew Birkic is now Ford Australia and New Zealand CEO, moving up from chief product marketer for Ford Ranger and Everest and reporting to Ford International Markets Group (IMG) president Mark Ovenden.
Birkic has taken over the position from Kay Hart, who is moving to a European-based global role as enterprise product line manager for Ford Van and Bus.
In his new role, Birkic will assume national responsibility for national sales, marketing and service, as well as dealer relations and customer satisfaction. Ovenden praised Birkic’s passion for bringing vehicles to market that truly serve its customers along with his breadth of understanding of the local market.
“His global expertise will serve as a strong foundation for the continued progress of the business,” he said.
Birkic, who has spent 26 years with the car manufacturer, has been responsible for global pricing structures, future product positioning strategies and product development in Melbourne. Prior to his role as the Ranger and Everest chief, Birkic worked at Ford in Detroit as a global advanced consumer experience platforms manager, and spent two-and-a-half years in Shanghai as Ford's Asia-Pacific director for dealer development and consumer experience.
Birkic said after having spent the past two years working with the Ranger and Everest development team to grow the brands across more than 180 markets, he is looking forward “to working closely with team and dealers to serve customers".
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