Waard perfect
Posted by Pat Devereux at 10:50AM on Tuesday 03 April, 2007 3 Comments
It's not often you meet motor industry management you'd like to spend more rather than less time with.
The designers are always good for a laugh - and there's the occasional PR person who is reliably entertaining. But it's a very rare day indeed when you meet a top industry suit who you could describe as A Good Bloke.
That's why you need to remember the name Roelant de Waard. This Dutchman is the Chairman and Managing Director of Ford of Britain and he's the least typical management figure you could hope to meet.
Apart from helping to steer FoB to another record sales year - while the US parent is drowning in red ink and recovery plans that don't work - Roelant is a massive petrolhead who deserves to be applauded by anyone who enjoys life on the outer edges of adhesion.
He rides bikes fast and cars even faster. First time I met him, he had just fanged a Ford GT up the course at Goodwood in refreshingly lurid powersliding style. Other drivers had taken it easy for the first couple of corners, but not Roelant. 'The people don't want to see the car going slowly, they want to be entertained!' he said with a grin splitting his face.
Then we talked about riding bikes at the Nurburgring and he was complaining that he couldn't find tyres that didn't go off after just a couple of laps. Pushing that hard on a fearsome track like that needs commitment and not a small amount of skill.
Now he's bought one of those new Ford-engined Caterhams and is driving the wheels off the thing at as many track days as he can get to.
But it's not like he's just car- and bike-obsessed. Why Roelant's such a good guy to hang out with is that he's got it all in perspective.
He is just as passionate about food, music - he counts several big name DJs among his mates - and sport. All the things that you need to have a good time.
With a high-performance, no-bullshit guy like Roelant at the helm of the Blue Oval in Britain, you just know that the cars he is going to try and sell us will be as good as he can make them. He drives - and drives - them all before we do and if he doesn't like them, you believe he'll do everything he can to make them better. New Mondeo included.
His presence at the top of the Ford tree wouldn't make us buy a Ford if we didn't already want one. But if we did, we'd be glad that some of the money was going to someone like him.
Roelant de Waard, you are Top Gear's favourite car boss. Not just a Good Bloke, but a Top one.
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3 Comments for "Waard perfect"
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That's brilliant word of mouth stuff - and a big influence on whether I should swap my (excellent) MG ZTT for the new Mondeo estate later this year...
Having been a consultant for Ford in a former life, I often earned the task of liaising with our European colleagues when they flew into the UK to either share or gather market info/practices. I'm not saluting the flag pole here, but Ford really does want to do the right thing.
Unfortnately, the execution is not always as good as the plan and typically, due to the rigid promotional ladder that Ford has always adhered to (most people are assured a move to a new position every 18 mths - 2yrs), any failures are usually due to the individuals either being too egotistical, or simply under-skilled to hold the role (i.e promoted to the level of their own incompetance).
I had the pleasure of accompanying Roelant several times while he was in the UK about 5 years ago and as you say in your article, he is a top bloke. He is not a 'manager' in the true sense of the word. He is an enthusiast, that has managed to land a job doing what he loves best and so as a result has become vary good at it. I sincerely hope he stays for a good few years and steers the company to produce more cars like the new S Max, Mondeo and the forthcoming Fiesta.
I'd much rather my money went to someone like him than some of the other people in the industry I've read about.
Ford is back on my shopping list too, as soon as it makes the new Focus Cosworth.