American carmaker Ford's subsidiaries in Romania will have new managers starting January 14, the company announced.

British manager John Oldham (opening photo), who has an experience of 35 years within Ford Great Britain and Ford Europe, was appointed general manager of Ford's factory in Craiova (replacing Jan Gijsen) and president of Ford Romania.

Oldham arrived at the Ford factory in Craiova in 2013 and has been running the engine factory, leading a team of over 1,000 employees. In 2015, he was appointed Assistant Production Manager of Ford Romania, overseeing the production of engines and vehicles.

The Ford factory in Craiova has about 2,700 employees after 500 employees left the company last year as part of a voluntary leave program. The factory reduced its headcount as the demand for the Ford B-Max model produced in Craiova declined. The production dropped by 9% in the first nine months of last year (compared to the same period of 2014), to under 45,000 units.

Ford may decide to start producing a second model in Craiova in the following years.

Ford also announced that Attila Szabo was named general manager of the Bucharest-based Ford Romania National Sales Company, which manages the brand's sales in Romania. He replaces Valerio Brenciaglia, who leaves this position after less than a year and moves to Italy as manager of Ford's local customer care division.

Szabo joined Ford in 2001 and started working in the sales division in 2003, holding several positions such as fleet sales manager at Ford Hungary and EDM (European Direct Markets). He has been working within Ford Europe’s marketing division in the last seven years. He has also led one of the division’s biggest teams as price manager, being responsible for ten European markets, including Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain.

Ford established the National Sales Company in Romania in August 2010, two years after taking over the factory in Craiova. So far, the company has invested more than EUR 1 billion in the local production of engines and vehicles.

Through its network of dealers, Ford in present in 37 locations across the country. Ford's sales in Romania went up by 6% in the first 11 months of 2015, to 5,550 units. Ford thus ranked fourth after local producer Dacia, Volkswagen, and Skoda.

Ford’s business in Romania falls under EUR 1 bln. 

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com