A tribute to the Ford man

Geoff Polites

Motoring executive

Born: Melbourne, November 3, 1947

Died: Melbourne, April 20, 2008.

Geoffrey (Geoff) Polites rode the many peaks and troughs as the highest ranking executive of Ford Australia and as a dealer principal for the blue oval company.

At the start of his tenure at the controls of Ford, after selling out of his City Ford dealership in Sydney in 1999, Mr Polites faced the challenge of turning the company around.

At the time no one in the car world wanted to be in his shoes, except for Geoff himself, because he relished a challenge and was fixated on accomplishing a mission many of his contemporaries thought to be impossible.

The ugly duckling AU Falcon was unwanted in the market and the future of Australia's longest running nameplate was in jeopardy.

It took a stroke of genius by Mr Polites to smooth over the ills of the AU, which took a hammering in the showroom.

When the BA Falcon emerged for the first drive and appraisals around the Grampians region in Victoria in 2003, he was roundly applauded for what was critically acclaimed as a damn good fix.

The BA — code-named Barra — was the facelift that could not come quick enough as the droopy and sad rear of the AU was reflected in Ford's decline in market share. More importantly, it was not just any facelift, it was one which had to work otherwise Ford Australia's much loved nameplate was at risk of falling off the automotive chart.

For Mr Polites, the success of the BA was a fair measure of his ability to fix problems and he was duly rewarded by FoMoCo bosses in Detroit.

He became known as the “Mr Fixit” of the Ford world, something which would take him to Europe and Britain, where he weaved more magic, helping to lift Jaguar and Land Rover back to profitability.

Sales of the BA were an endorsement of his Midas touch, with the Falcon beating the Commodore for the first time for six years in September 2003 in a monumental showroom turnaround.

Mr Polites had pulled the company back from one of its darkest periods. But he wasn't finished there — he never was finished really, dedicated to the cause to the end.

He reaffirmed Ford's commitment to the biggest motor racing series in the country — V8 Supercars — and was responsible for the birth of the Falcon-based Territory, which has done swift business for Ford among the SUV crowd.

And that icon of all Falcon derivatives — the GT — made a comeback under his command.

He was passionate and tireless about the car business, which did not diminish, even in his battle with bowel cancer which ultimately claimed his life after a two-year battle.

After being handed the task of running Ford in Europe, based out of Cologne in Germany in 2004, he then became chief executive of Jaguar and Land Rover in the United Kingdom.

He was living in England but had recently returned to Australia for the birth of his first grandchild, Zoe, who was born on April 16, but soon after arriving he became critically ill.

It was his dedication to the profession of the car business and his love of cars which injected a good dose of passion back into Ford Australia, something which filtered down through a born-again product range.

He once said of his Falcon GT company car, “I drive at 60km/h on cruise control and I still feel good.”

Educated at Cheltenham High in Melbourne, he gained a first-class honours degree in economics at Monash University and, after completing an academic career, joined Ford Australia as a product planner in 1970.

In 1975, after training in the US and Europe, he assumed the role of marketing plans and research manager. He was appointed general sales manager in 1985, holding the position until July 1988 when he headed the City Ford dealership, credited as Australia's largest and most successful Ford franchise.

A lifelong supporter of the South Melbourne Football Club, which morphed into the Sydney Swans in the 1980s, Mr Polites had an unwavering love for the club of which he was once a selector.

Family and footy were his great passions outside of cars.

He is survived by Linda, his wife of 36 years, sons Chris and Brent and granddaughter Zoe.