Ford to Replace Jaguar Chairman Egan

Jaguar Chairman Sir John Egan will leave the luxury auto maker in June, seven months after it was taken over by Ford Motor Co.

Egan, 50, said he has not yet decided what he will do when he leaves the company.

He is to be replaced by William Hayden, currently vice president-manufacturing for Ford of Europe. Hayden, 61, has been leading Ford’s transition team at Jaguar since the $2.6-billion takeover in November.

“It is exactly 10 years since my appointment as chairman of Jaguar, and during that time I have concentrated on the rescue and recovery of a fine British car company,” Egan said.

He said he had been delighted that Ford had acquired Jaguar and was encouraged by Ford’s ambitious long-term plans. Ford plans to substantially increase Jaguar’s annual production of 50,000.

“I consider I have made my best contribution to Jaguar and my advice to Ford was that the big growth opportunities available to Jaguar under their ownership could only be fully exploited if the company was led by a senior Ford executive,” he said.

Egan has been credited with steering the auto maker through a successful privatization in 1984 and improving the company’s fortunes.

In the government’s hands, Jaguar had developed a poor reputation for quality and reliability, and sales had suffered worldwide, particularly in the United States.