Aussie steps up to Ford global product development role

The father of the Ford Territory SUV and the last Falcon large car, Trevor Worthington, will be directly responsible for the development of future global Ford products after being promoted.

The Benalla-born Aussie is now Ford's vice-president of global product development operations and vehicle programs, which means he will have his finger in the pie of virtually every new model from the Blue Oval company – from sports cars like the next-generation Mustang to all-new EVs on the horizon.

Worthington joined Ford Australia in 1985 working in production development roles in which he labored almost exclusively on Ford Falcon cars, including the unloved AU model.

He oversaw the development of the Ford Territory and Ford Falcon FG update over a six-year period before initiating the Ford Ranger program – a vehicle that is today sold in more than 250 countries and is the brand's top-selling vehicle in Australia.

Worthington also worked on several Chinese market models such as the modern-day Ford Escort and Taurus, as well as the Figo small car for India.

"With Trevor’s broad experience across some of the world’s fastest-growing markets, he will help us meet the needs of our diverse customer base by bringing together the best of Ford’s product development capabilities," said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's executive vice-president of product development and purchasing.

"This will enable us to bring exciting new vehicles to market faster and more efficiently."

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Biermann promoted to Hyundai R&D boss

Meanwhile former BMW M division chief is now in charge of Hyundai's global research and development efforts, the first foreigner to head Hyundai’s product development.

A management shakeup has seen Germany’s Albert Biermann appointed to the role of Vice-Chairman, reporting directly to Hyundai’s Chung Euisun, who has been anointed to succeed his octogenarian father, Chung Mong-koo, as Chairman.

Biermann, 60, made his name as the chief engineer of BMW’s go-faster M division and has been given control of all Hyundai, Genesis and Kia development and a mandate to boost Hyundai’s surprise-hit electric push and its almost-invisible autonomous-vehicle development.

While a clear pointer that the Chung Euisun is making his own mark at Hyundai, it’s also yet another worrying sign of brain drain at BMW.

Volkswagen Group CEO and Chairman, Dr Herbert Diess, transferred from a career heading up BMW’s purchasing and development departments to lead the Volkswagen brand in 2015.

Dr Diess left BMW after finding his way to the CEO’s role blocked by the relatively young Dr Harald Kruger and now has total control over the world’s largest carmaker.

At BMW, Biermann had been marginalised at M, with no clear future career path at a brand that sells two million cars a year. He is now in charge of all development at the world’s fifth-biggest carmaker, with Hyundai's annual sales of around 7.5 million cars.

Besides joining Hyundai to create and develop its high-performance N division, Biermann has also been the key to developing dynamics for the Genesis luxury brand, including the Kia Stinger and Genesis G70 siblings.

Another piece of the puzzle at Hyundai is that former Lamborghini, Seat and Bentley designer, Luc Donckerwolke, will grow his role to oversee Kia and Hyundai design, with studios in Germany, China, the US and South Korea.

Hyundai Motor Company announced this week that it was pouring about $9 billion into hydrogen fuel-cell EV development for not only cars, but drones and ships as well.