Ford Australia Boss Retiring, Graeme Whickman To Step Into Top Role

Ford Australia and New Zealand boss Robert “Bob” Graziano has announced that he will retire on April 1, closing out a 32-year career with the American carmaker.

Graziano’s retirement also brings an end to a nearly five-year innings as the President and CEO of Ford Australia.

Perhaps the most challenging role of his career, Graziano guided the company through tough times here for the brand's local manufacturing operations and for the Australian automotive industry, culminating in the decision by Ford to end its Australian manufacturing programme.

“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,” Graziano said today.

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

Pictured above: Graziano with V8 racing legend Allan Moffat and FPV GT-F 001 owner Ian Terriaca.

Graziano, 55, joined Ford in 1982 as a sales analyst in the US, building experience in marketing and finance roles along the way.

His first international role came with a move to Ford Brazil in 1997, where he served as general marketing manager before being promoted to a broader marketing role with Ford South America.