Ford Motor Co.’s decision to move its Volvo Cars of North America LLC from Irvine to New Jersey takes away a major automaker as well as one of the county’s most prominent women executives.
Along with the move, former Volvo North American chief executive Anne B & #233;lec is heading to Dearborn, Mich., to be Ford’s director of global marketing.
Doug Speck, who’s been with Ford since 1983 and at Volvo for the past two years, has taken over for B & #233;lec.
Speck will oversee the move of Volvo from Irvine to Rockleigh, N.J., where it the brand has its customer service, parts and auto service operations.
The move puts Volvo’s U.S. operations closer to its Swedish headquarters.
Volvo’s U.S. based operations opened in 1956 in Newark, N.J., and came to Rockleigh in 1964. Volvo moved to Irvine in 2001 when Ford’s Premier Automotive Group of European brands consolidated here.
Volvo employs 110 people in Irvine, down 12% from a year ago.
B & #233;lec, a 2007 Business Journal Women in Business award winner, arguably was the most high-profile female executive in Orange County. She ran Volvo’s U.S. operations since 2005 and had a hand in gearing the automaker toward women.
In her new position, B & #233;lec will be responsible for global marketing strategies and processes, brand positioning and consumer insights.
Volvo’s move to New Jersey comes as Ford is near a deal to sell its Premier Automotive Group siblings,Jaguar and Land Rover,to India’s Tata Motors.
The framework of a sale is expected to this month.
Ford said in November it wanted to sell Jaguar and Land Rover by early this year to cut debt and to rid itself of the poor-performing brands.
A year ago, Ford sold a majority stake in Premier Automotive Group’s Aston Martin for $848 million.
