Ford Vietnam has new CEO

Ford Motor last Friday announced the appointment of Ruchik Shah as the General Director of its subsidairy in Vietnam, starting from April 1.

Based in Hanoi, Ruchik Shah has held the position of Deputy General Director of Ford Vietnam since June 1, 2021.

Previously, he worked at General Motors and joined Ford India in 2005. During this time, he held a range of key positions across multiple areas, including sales services, product marketing and engineering services.

Yukontorn Wisadkosin, chairwoman of Ford ASEAN and Distribution Markets in Asia Pacific, said Ruchik Shah has extensive experiences at Ford at both market and regional levels.

Therefore, he is a suitable choice for the new appointment in the context that Ford is strengthening its sales agent system and sustainable customer experiences when introducing its new generation products, Wisadkosin said.

As a replacement of Ruchik Shah’s current position, Ford Vietnam nominated Truong Kim Phong as a new Deputy General Director. Prior to this, Phong was the Business Development Director of Ford Vietnam.

The changes in the leadership team are attributed to Pham Van Dung’s departure.

Dung, a Vietnamese, has 24 years working in Ford Vietnam. He joined the company since 1998 as an accountant and was later assigned to take on many finance-related positions at Ford Vietnam.

In 2004, he moved to Melbourne, Australia and was in charge of finance for Ford Australia’s sales and services division until 2005. On August 1, 2015, he was appointed General Director of Ford Vietnam.

“Dung’s dedication over the past 24 years has been a foundational strength for the development of Ford Vietnam today,” Wisadkosin stressed.

The personnel changes were made right before the Vietnamese market received two new “blockbuster” products: Ranger and Everest 2022. According to the automaker, Ford’s two best-selling pickup trucks and SUVs will have a new generation variant this year, possibly in the third quarter.

Ford Vietnam is a join venture between Ford Motor Group (75%) and Song Cong Diesel Lt. Co. (25%), with total investment of more than $126 million to date.

The company operates an assembly and manufacturing plant in Hai Duong province, northern Vietnam, with an annual capacity of 14,000 vehicles. Ford's products in Vietnam include Ford Ranger, Ford Explorer, Ford EcoSport, Ford Transit, Ford Everest, Ford Focus.

The firm currently has 31 sales agencies with 36 points of sale. Covid-19 had a negative impact on the automaker’s sales, especially in the third quarter of last year. However, a recovery in the fourth quarter helped its sales reach over 23,700 units last year.