Ford Motor Company has announced the appointment of Randy Krieger as its president - direct markets, a new position which will focus on Ford’s distributor markets in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific Emerging Markets.

Krieger joins the Dubai office from Shanghai where he was executive director, marketing and sales, Ford Asia Pacific Operations (APO), said a statement from the company.

In his new role, Krieger will drive a distributor centre of excellence, which brings together more than 80 distributor markets across the regions. He will be reporting to Mark Ovenden who has taken on the role of president, Ford International Markets Group.

Prior to his APO posting, Krieger was Ford’s marketing and sales director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). He also served as president of Ford Japan and Ford Philippines, where he successfully restructured the business operations to return to profits.

Krieger had also played a central role in Ford’s strong presence in China during the early days of Changan Ford operations.

His achievement included aggressive expansion of Changan Ford dealers from 26 to 150 and six-fold vehicle sales growth over a 30-month period.

Lauding the appointment, Ovenden said: "Krieger brings a wealth of experience and insight, in monumentally diverse markets, to our company’s direct markets operations.”

“With a new structure, we will be able to better meet the needs of our distributor partners and our shared business,” he added.

Krieger joined Ford in 1986 and has held a range of positions at Ford's North America and European operations in marketing, finance, and dealer operations.

He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, US, and has an MBA in finance from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. Randy will move to Dubai with his family this August, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service