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

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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

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

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and CEO 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 counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. He was educated at Boroughmuir School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and after studying at the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

, received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

from

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

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, United States. Trotman was a member of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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 manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...

compact car there and was noticed by

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), commonly 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. He served as president ...

. 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 19 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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 manufactured and marketed 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 designa ...

and

Mercury Mystique The Ford Mondeo I (first generation) is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed 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 designa ...

designs based on the European

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

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 was still 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 was the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 1998 to 2006, and later as president and chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company ...

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 A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Trotman of Osmotherley in the County of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, 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 has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...

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

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

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