Ford taps Thai for head of Asean hub

Ford taps Thai for head of Asean hub

Ford Motor Co announces the appointment of Yukontorn Wisadkosin to president of Asean operations, effective Oct 1. Ms Yukontorn became marketing and sales director for Ford Asean in June 2016.
Ford Motor Co announces the appointment of Yukontorn Wisadkosin to president of Asean operations, effective Oct 1. Ms Yukontorn became marketing and sales director for Ford Asean in June 2016.

The US car maker Ford Motor Co has appointed the first Thai executive to lead its Asean operation.

Yesterday Ford announced the promotion of Yukontorn Wisadkosin to president of Ford Asean, replacing Mark Kaufman, who is repatriating back to the US.

Ms Yukontorn became marketing and sales director for Ford Asean in June 2016.

Effective from Oct 1, Ms Yukontorn will be responsible for managing and growing Ford's integrated operations in Asean and South Korea, as well as the company's Asia-Pacific Emerging Markets (APEM) unit. She will report directly to Peter Fleet, Ford group's vice-president and president for Asia-Pacific.

"Asean is key to Ford's ambitious growth plan for the Asia-Pacific region," said Mr Fleet.

"We are confident she will lead a very talented and capable team and continue driving the success of our Asean business in the future."

Ms Yukontorn joined Ford Thailand as vice-president for marketing, sales and service in September 2012 and she was elevated to the role of managing director in February 2013.

She is still in charge of marketing and sales for Ford Asean and managing director for Ford Thailand.

In Thailand, Ms Yukontorn helped drive the growth of the Ford brand as its market share has grown from 3.8% in 2013 to 5.3% in 2016 and stood at 6.4% through August this year.

Ford reported 34,569 vehicles sold over the first eight months this year, up sharply by 37.2%.

Sales of the Thai-made Ranger pickup truck totalled 27,316 units from January to August, up by 47.7%, comprising 11.9% of the Thai pickup market. Ford is behind its two top rivals Isuzu and Toyota.

In Asean, Thailand is considered one of the top three markets for Ford along with the Philippines and Vietnam, which sold 22,834 vehicles, up by 2%, and 19,081 vehicles, up by 3%, respectively, over the first eight months.

Last year Ford reported its combined sales in Asean rose by 11.5% to 115,979 vehicles, marking its fourth consecutive year of record sales.

The Ranger remained the best-selling vehicle in Vietnam this year and the second-best seller in the Philippines.

Ford Asean has its headquarters in Bangkok. It has national sales companies in the Philippines, Vietnam and the other seven Asean countries that are part of Ford's APEM unit, which comprise 23 markets and are managed by local distributors.

Ford has two manufacturing facilities in Rayong, both wholly owned and joint ventures with Japan's Mazda.

The facilities have a combined capacity of 315,000 units per year.

The company also operates an assembly facility in Hai Duong, Vietnam, making 20,000 units annually.

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