Lewis William Killcross Booth

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 7 November 1948) is a British accountant and business executive. He is currently on the board of directors for Rolls-Royce,Rolls-Royce, Board . Retrieved 30 August 2015 for

Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, holding and drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an ...

, Inc,Mondelez International, Corporate Governanc

Retrieved 30 August 2015 an
Gentherm Inc.
ref name="Gentherm, Inc">Gentherm, Management Profile

Retrieved 30 August 2015 He previously had a 34-year career at

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 automobi ...

where he rose to the rank of Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, responsible for Ford's financial operations, including the Controller's Office, Treasury and Investor Relations, a position he held from November 2008 until April 2012.Bloomberg, Ford CFO Said to Retire in 2012 as Fields Groomed to Be Chie

Retrieved 30 August 2015 Booth was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to the UK automotive and manufacturing industries.

Early life and education

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, United Kingdom, the son of a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

dealer, Booth has always had a passion for cars and the automotive industry.The Telegraph, Lewis Booth: the most powerful Briton in the car industry you've never heard of calls it a da

Retrieved 30 August 2015 Graduating in 1970 from the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

with a bachelor of engineering degree with honours in mechanical engineering,University of Liverpool, Giving . Retrieved 30 August 2015 he subsequently qualified as a chartered management accountant.Biography: Lewis Booth, Ford Pressroom (archived

Retrieved 30 August 2015 He started his career at

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

before joining Ford in 1978 as a financial analyst in Product Development for

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

Career

Ford of Europe

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Booth held a series of management positions in Ford of Europe in Britain and in Germany in Finance Staff, Truck Operations, Product Development, Manufacturing, and Sales.

Ford North America

In 1992, he moved to the United States where he worked for Finance Staff in Dearborn. From 1993 to 1996, Booth held a variety of positions in Car Product Development, Body & Assembly, Vehicle Operations and the Manufacturing Business Office for Ford Automotive Operations before accepting the position of Group managing director at

SAMCOR The South African Motor Corporation, more commonly known as Samcor, was a South African car manufacturer created in 1985 through the merger of Ford Motor Company of Canada's South African subsidiary and Sigma Motor Corporation (previously known a ...

in South Africa.

International Assignments

From August 1997 to January 2000, Booth served as Group managing director of the South Africa Motor Corporation. At that time, Ford had 45% equity in

, which assembled

and

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

vehicles in South Africa. Subsequently, the

joint venture was dissolved and

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (Pty.) Ltd. is an automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer with corporate headquarters in Pretoria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. auf der Website der Ford Motor Company of Sou ...

was established.Mazda, Mark Fields to Hand over to Lewis Booth as Mazda President in Summer

Retrieved 30 August 2015 Booth was promoted President, Asia Pacific and Africa Operations for Ford Motor Company, a position he held from 1 January 2000. In this role, he had operational responsibility for South Africa, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and for developing Ford's strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mazda

Between 2002 and 2003, Booth succeeded Mark Fields as president and then chairman of

Mazda Motor Corporation , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, M ...

based in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Japan, where he oversaw the implementation of the company's highly successful Millennium Plan and the return of the

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

in the RX-8. He is widely credited for leading the turnaround and renaissance of Mazda.

Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group

Following his stint at Mazda, Booth returned to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

succeeding Martin Leach as President and COO from September 2003 to April 2004. In April 2004, he was promoted to group vice-president Ford Motor Company and chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe.Ford Credit, Ford Motor Company Announces Executive Appointment

Retrieved 31 August 2015 In October 2005, he replaced Mark Fields as Executive Vice-President Ford of Europe and

Premier Automotive Group The Premier Automotive Group (PAG) was an organizational division within the Ford Motor Company formed in 1999 to oversee the business operations of Ford's high-end automotive marques. The PAG was gradually dismantled from 2006 to 2011 with th ...

,Ford, Ford Announces Leadership Appointments to Improve North America Automotive and Grow International Operation

Retrieved 31 August 2015 responsible for Ford of Europe,

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

, and

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

, and divided his time between Cologne and Ford's Ingeni building in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, London. It was in this role he oversaw the sale of Aston Martin to Kuwaiti investors in March 2007Financial Times, Kuwait team acquires Aston Martin marqu

Retrieved 31 August 2015 and

Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is a ...

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...

in June 2008.Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors Completes Acquisition of Jaguar Land Rove

Retrieved 30 August 2015 As Ford implemented its One Ford plan and divested itself of its luxury brands that made up Premier Automotive Group, his job title and responsibilities changed to reflect this as he became Executive Vice-President for Ford Motor Company responsible for Ford of Europe, Volvo Car Corporation and Ford Export Operations & Global Growth Initiatives. He was also chairman of both Ford of Europe and Volvo Car Corporation.

Ford Chief Financial Officer & EVP

In November 2008, then-Ford CEO

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 ...

, moved him to his final role at Ford Motor Company, becoming Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer once again based in Dearborn. In this role, he engineered Ford's largest ever debt restructuring in 2009, led the sale of Volvo to

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneu ...

in 2010, and paid Ford's first dividend in 5 years in March 2012. He retired from Ford in April 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Lewis 1948 births Living people British accountants British engineers British manufacturing chief executives Businesspeople from Liverpool Chief financial officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ford executives People educated at Liverpool College English twins