TWO Ford chiefs have announced their retirement from the company.

The manufacturer's fleet director Mike Wear is leaving after 33 years and Bob Dover is taking early retirement as head of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Dover will be replaced by Joe Greenwell, a former public relations executive for Jaguar, who is currently in charge of global marketing for Ford, based in Detroit. The manufacturer has appointed Kevin Griffin to the position of director, fleet operations, replacing Wear, and he takes up his appointment from October 1.

Griffin joined Ford in 1977 in personal import/export sales, before progressing through zone manager positions in fleet and retail sales.

In 1993 he moved to Ford of Europe as manager of sales planning and programming and later as manager of rental operations, rental distribution and remarketing. In 2000, he was appointed district manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Wear joined Ford as a graduate trainee in 1970 and as director, fleet operations, the company cites his many achievements as the introduction of Ford Direct, establishing the Ford Fleet Business Centre and MAGIC, Ford's Motability centre. More recently he has chaired the Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team for the Home Office.