The Hart Of Ford

UNCERTAINTY. THE DEATH OF CAR MAKING. SALES IN DECLINE. WHAT’S NEXT FOR FORD IN AUSTRALIA? WE MET WITH CEO KAY HART TO ASK HER JUST THAT

- Bruce Newton

ST HELIERS BAY is one of those affluent waterside suburbs you might find in Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco or Barcelona. In this case it’s Auckland in New Zealand. The coffee shops are doing a roaring Sunday-morning trade, the joggers are out in force, as are the dog walkers and a multitude of cyclists.

Picking her way through the throng in a white Mustang convertible V8, it’s top appropriately dropped on this sunny morning, is Kay Hart, the president and CEO of Ford Australia-New Zealand.

Soon she’ll be driving the hour south to Pukekohe Motorsport Park to watch the Supercars racing version of the Mustang GT Fastback in action. But right now she’s squeezed some time in for a photoshoot and a talk with Wheels in the area where she grew up.

“I love it here,” she says. “The sea, the culture, the environment, the people and just the general vibe.”

Hart’s own vibe is happy and upbeat. She has a deep, frequent chuckle, a big smile and a remnant trace of a Kiwi ‘fush and chups’ accent. People who know her well insist she’s not only smart as hell, but genuine with it. Hart has heart.

She also has a strong constitution. She’d been in South Africa on a dealer trip prior to Pukekohe – pit-stopping at Ford’s Melbourne HQ briefly on the way through – then after NZ it was back to South Africa for a wedding, Melbourne, then Sydney for the launch of the Mustang R-Spec and on to Bathurst to witness Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat’s victory in an epic 1000km battle.

“The international travel is not so typical in such a short space of time, but I do try to get out within Australia as often as possible to visit dealers and customers,” she says when we catch up at Mount Panorama to complete the interview started on a beachside park bench at St Heliers.