California: Raj Nair, the Indian American president of Ford Motor Co in North America, was forced to leave his job after investigation confirmed inappropriate behaviour by the executive. “We made this decision after a thorough review and careful consideration,” said Ford president and chief executive officer Jim Hackett.
"I sincerely regret that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviours consistent with the principles that the company and I have always espoused,” the 53-year-old Nair said in a statement. Before his latest position, Nair was Ford's head of product development and chief technical officer. He oversaw the launch of the 2016 GT supercar, aluminum-bodied F-150 and 50th-anniversary Mustang, among a plethora of other vehicles.
Nair's tenure as product boss wasn't without controversy. The automaker twice had to lower mileage claims for its C-Max crossover and reimburse owners when the vehicle didn't achieve the rating originally advertised.
Nair started at Ford in 1987 as a body and assembly operations launch engineer and held various positions on more than 11 vehicle programs in 13 assembly plants, according to Ford's media website. He also worked on assignments in Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. Nair holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with an automotive specialty from Kettering University in Flint and was named the recipient of the 2012 Kettering Alumni Award for Management Achievement.
In 2014, he was named the Fortune Automotive Businessperson of the Year. In addition to his responsibilities at Ford, Nair serves on the board of trustees of Kettering University.
