Alexander James James Trotman

automobile manufacturing company executive

July 22, 1933 (age 71)

Isleworth, London Borough of Hounslow, United Kingdom

He was involved in the development of the Ford Cortina compact car there and was noticed by Henry Ford II. He came to the United States and earned a reputation for cost cutting. He became CEO of the company in November 1993 and remained in the position until he retired in December 1998. He was the first foreign-born CEO of the company, but was succeeded by Jacques Nasser of Australia. One of Trotman's main contributions at Ford was the Ford 2000 initiative, launched in 1995. This was an attempt to unify and consolidate Ford's manufacturing, marketing and product development forces around the world. The initiative produced $5 billion in cost savings, and produced $7 billion in profits for Ford in 1997. Some people considered it a failure, however, as many of the resulting products (like the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique designs based on the European Ford Mondeo platform), were not very competitive in the American market in the long term, and the major restructuring was disruptive to the company. The inability of senior management to successfully implement this program in the mid- to late-90's turned out to be a huge opportunity lost, one that Ford is desperately trying to leverage under the leadership of Alan Mulally in 2007. Mr. Trotman retired in January 1999 after 43 years with Ford in a variety of positions throughout Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Mr. Trotman was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 and was created a Life peer as Baron Trotman of Osmotherley in the County of North Yorkshire, on 2 March 1999 in recognition of his contributions to industry. Trotman was a director of ICI from 1997 until 2003 and became Chairman in January 2002. He ranked number 865 on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004 with a net worth of £45m. He died on 25 April 2005 in Yorkshire, England.

Alexander James James Trotman

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automobile manufacturing company executive

Background

Trotman, Alexander James was born on July 22, 1933 in Middlesex, England.

Education

Married. Master of Business Administration, Michigan State University, 1972. Various positions Ford Motor Company, 1951, officer Royal Air Force, 1951-1955. Ford of Britain, 1955-1967, director car production planning office Ford of Europe, 1967-1969, special assignment advanced car production planning department Ford United States of America, 1969-1970, manager product planning department Lincoln-Mercury division, 1970-1971, director marketing staff sales planning office,1971-1972, executive director product planning, product planning and research, 1972-1975, chief car planning manager, car production development group, 1975-1977, executive director operations planning, 1977-1978, assistant general manager, truck and recreational product operations, 1978-1979, vice president truck operations Ford of Europe, 1979-1983, president Ford Asia-Pacific Inc., 1983-1984, president Ford of Europe, Inc., 1984-1988, executive vice president Northern American Auto Operations, 1988-1993, president Ford Auto Group, 1993, chairman, Chief Executive Officer, director Ford Motor Company, 1993-1998.

Board directors Ford Motor Company, board directors International Business Machines Corporation Corporation, Armonk, New York, Imperial Chemical Industries, London, New York Stock Exch., New York City. Advising committee member Chase International Knightedby Queen of England, 1996. Officer Royal Air Force, 1951-1955.

Career

He was involved in the development of the Ford Cortina compact car there and was noticed by Henry Ford II. He came to the United States and earned a reputation for cost cutting. He became CEO of the company in November 1993 and remained in the position until he retired in December 1998. He was the first foreign-born CEO of the company, but was succeeded by Jacques Nasser of Australia.

One of Trotman's main contributions at Ford was the Ford 2000 initiative, launched in 1995. This was an attempt to unify and consolidate Ford's manufacturing, marketing and product development forces around the world. The initiative produced $5 billion in cost savings, and produced $7 billion in profits for Ford in 1997.

Some people considered it a failure, however, as many of the resulting products (like the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique designs based on the European Ford Mondeo platform), were not very competitive in the American market in the long term, and the major restructuring was disruptive to the company. The inability of senior management to successfully implement this program in the mid- to late-90's turned out to be a huge opportunity lost, one that Ford is desperately trying to leverage under the leadership of Alan Mulally in 2007. Mr. Trotman retired in January 1999 after 43 years with Ford in a variety of positions throughout Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.

Mr. Trotman was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 and was created a Life peer as Baron Trotman of Osmotherley in the County of North Yorkshire, on 2 March 1999 in recognition of his contributions to industry. Trotman was a director of ICI from 1997 until 2003 and became Chairman in January 2002. He ranked number 865 on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004 with a net worth of £45m.

He died on 25 April 2005 in Yorkshire, England.

Membership

Member American-China Society, United States China Business Council, United States-Japan Business Council, Business Roundtable, Business Council. Served with Royal Air Force, 1951-1955.

Connections

Married.

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Alexander James James Trotman

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