Alexander James Trotman, Baron Trotman (22 July 1933 – 25 April 2005) was a British-born businessman who served as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...

from 1993 to 1998. Trotman was the first foreign-born chairman and

of a Big Three American automobile manufacturer.

Life and career

Trotman was born on 22 July 1933 in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

. He was educated at Boroughmuir School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and after studying at the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

, received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in business administration from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, United States. Trotman was a member of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

before joining Ford in 1955 as a management trainee in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was involved in the development of the

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

compact car there and was noticed by

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president o ...

. He came to the United States and earned a reputation for cost cutting. He became CEO of the company in November 1993 and remained in the position until he retired in December 1998. He was the first foreign-born CEO of the company, but was succeeded by

Jacques Nasser Jacques Albert Nasser (Arabic: جاك نصر; born 12 December 1947) is a Lebanese Australian American business executive and philanthropist. Known for a management career at Ford Motor Company spanning several decades and continents, from 1 ...

of Australia. One of Trotman's main contributions at Ford was the Ford 2000 initiative, launched in 1995. This was an attempt to unify and consolidate Ford's manufacturing, marketing and product development forces around the world. The initiative produced $5 billion in cost savings, and produced $7 billion in profits for Ford in 1997. Some people considered it a failure, however, as many of the resulting products (like the

Ford Contour The Ford Mondeo I (first generation) is a mid-size car that was produced by Ford, beginning on 23 November 1992, with sales beginning on 22 March 1993. It is also known as the Mk I Mondeo; the 1996 facelift versions are usually designated Mk I ...

and

Mercury Mystique The Ford Mondeo I (first generation) is a mid-size car that was produced by Ford, beginning on 23 November 1992, with sales beginning on 22 March 1993. It is also known as the Mk I Mondeo; the 1996 facelift versions are usually designated Mk II ...

designs based on the European

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a " world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Aus ...

platform), were not very competitive in the American market in the long term, and the major restructuring was disruptive to the company. The inability of senior management to successfully implement this program in the mid- to late-1990s turned out to be a huge opportunity lost, one that Ford is desperately trying to leverage under the leadership of

Alan Mulally Alan Roger Mulally (born August 4, 1945) is an American aerospace engineer and manufacturing executive. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company. He retired from Ford Motor Company on July 1, 2014. Ford ...

in 2007. Trotman retired in January 1999 after 43 years with Ford in a variety of positions throughout Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Trotman was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 and was created a

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Trotman of

Osmotherley Osmotherley may refer to: *Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, an English village and civil parish *Osmotherley, Cumbria Osmotherley is a civil parish in South Lakeland, Cumbria, England, extending north from Ulverston. The village of Broughton Bec ...

in the County of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, on 2 March 1999 in recognition of his contributions to industry. Trotman was a director of ICI from 1997 until 2003 and became Chairman in January 2002. He ranked number 865 on the

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday n ...

2004 with a net worth of £45m. He died on 25 April 2005 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

References

External links

Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 22 June 1999 *Obituary

The Times

The Independent
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trotman, Alexander 1934 births 2005 deaths Alumni of the University of East London British manufacturing chief executives Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Chief executives in the automobile industry Crossbench life peers Ford executives Imperial Chemical Industries executives Knights Bachelor Michigan State University alumni People educated at Boroughmuir High School People from Isleworth People in the automobile industry 20th-century English businesspeople Life peers created by Elizabeth II