Ford Motor Company has announced the appointment of Casper Kruger as managing director of Ford Motor Company Sub-Saharan Africa Region, effective 1 April, 2017.
Kruger will join Ford’s Southern Africa leadership team and assist in overseeing Ford’s business operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa and Southern Africa. He will assume the position of managing director when current president and CEO Jeff Nemeth takes on his new position at Ford as part of his planned return to the U.S. July 1, 2017.
“Casper’s extensive experience and expertise in sales and marketing, together with his deep experience in working closely with dealers and their customers, will be a great asset in strengthening our retail business in the region with the exceptional range of current products we offer, bolstered by the addition of several exciting new models in the coming years,” says Jacques Brent, president of Ford Middle East and Africa.
“Having already spent two years at Ford, from 2007 to 2009, Casper is well placed to integrate seamlessly into the team and lead the company forward into a new era of growth and opportunity.”
During his time at Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA), Kruger was national sales manager and general manager for the Ford brand.
Kruger is the outgoing vice president of Vehicle Sales and Dealer Network at Toyota South Africa, a position he held from 2014, after previously heading up Toyota’s Hino truck division as vice president for a period of five years. From 1996 to 2006, he served in several sales and marketing positions at Toyota. This was preceded by a five-year stint as a lecturer and senior lecturer in marketing at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
Jeff Nemeth will be overseeing the transition period and will be returning to the United States with his family in June 2017 following the completion of his son’s school year in South Africa.
“I would like to thank Jeff for his exceptional commitment to developing and growing the business over the past seven years pioneering our expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa,” Brent says.
“During Jeff’s tenure, he led the team through the launch of the global export programme for the locally built Ford Ranger and, more recently, local production of the Everest. Both the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria and the Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth were expanded with multi-billion rand investments and are running at record capacities.”
On the sales front, Ford’s market share in South Africa doubled during this period, achieving record volumes and market share for the Ranger, as well as other key models such as the EcoSport.