Whickman in charge at Ford Australia

Graeme Whickman is a name soon to become familiar to Ford fans around the country.

Moving from the role of VP of Marketing, Sales and Service, Whickman will succeed incumbent president Robert 'Bob' Graziano, who is retiring after 32 years with Ford. The hand-over is effective from April 1.

A native Kiwi, Whickman is the first non-American to head Ford Australia since 2004 when the late Geoff Polites, the father of the Territory, was at the helm.

With a background working for Coca-Cola and Hertz, Whickman joined Ford in New Zealand 18 years ago. He has since held posts throughout the world, and is said to have played a pivotal role most recently in the transformation of Ford Australia from manufacturer to importer, which will take effect in full from October next year. In the sales and marketing role for no more than about two years, Whickman is understood to be a rising star within Ford. A former colleague described Whickman to motoring.com.au as "very talented".

In a press release issued today, Dave Schoch, president of Ford in the Asia Pacific region, paid tribute to Graziano for his work with the company.

"Bob has been a terrific leader for Ford in so many roles around the world," Schoch said.

"Nowhere has this been more true than in his current role with Ford in Australia and New Zealand. With Bob at the helm, we have set the business on a new path that will result in a thriving product development centre and a world-class marketing and sales organization serving the wants and needs of our customers in Australia for years to come."

Graziano inherited the presidency at Ford Australia in 2010. By then, the company had already experienced steady sales decline for the previous five years, from its last peak of 135,172 in 2004 – the year the Territory was launched. Sales have not picked up since, and the end of local manufacturing at Ford's Broadmeadows and Geelong plants was announced in May 2013.

Despite that, Graziano predicts strong prospects for the company in the local market.

"Leading the team in Australia through such an important and difficult time has been an honour," he said.

"The progress we have made on transforming the business in the last two years has been dramatic – completely rethinking the experience our dealers deliver to our customers and dramatically improving sales and service satisfaction, securing robust agreements that will allow our manufacturing employees to move on from Ford with dignity and hope, announcing our new office near central Melbourne, and ensuring we can continue to serve our customers with 20 new vehicles by 2020.  

"I am confident that this transformation will be successful and that we have the right team in place to accelerate that transformation."