Ford Taps Thai-Tang as Purchasing Chief

Ford names Hau Thai-Tang, former vice president-engineering, as group vice president-purchasing.

Thai-Tang succeeds Tony Brown, who is retiring after 36 years of service, including 11 as purchasing chief.

“Tony Brown is a world-class business leader who has helped to transform Ford’s relationships with our global supplier partners,” CEO Alan Mulally says in a statement.

Thai-Tang, who has served at a number of the auto maker’s global engineering locations, will be responsible for the $90 billion of production and non-production goods and services Ford purchases each year.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields says there is an opportunity for Thai-Tang to carry the One Ford plan, which focuses on leveraging global operations, into the auto maker’s purchasing strategy.

“Building on his extensive global product knowledge, Hau is the right leader to take our purchasing effectiveness and efficiency to the next level and unlock the full benefits of our scale and commonality,” Fields says in a statement.

Thai-Tang will be succeeded as vice president-engineering by Kumar Galhotra, who previously served as vice president, product development-Asia Pacific.

Ford also names Birgit Behrendt vice president-global programs and purchasing and Burt Jordan as vice president-global vehicle and powertrain purchasing and supplier diversity. Both will report to Thai-Tang.