Zimmerman to Retire From Ford

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 9, 2004 -- Ford Motor Company announced today that Dr. Martin B. Zimmerman, an economist and the company's group vice president of Corporate Affairs, has elected to retire effective Feb. 1, following more than 16 years with Ford and a highly successful career in academia and government.

"Marty has been a major contributor to our company's success and brought our governmental affairs and corporate economics group up to its high level," said Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company. "He has agreed to be an advisor to me and I look forward to continuing to work with him in that capacity."

"Ford is well positioned to continue its strong performance and I am proud to have been a part of the company for 16 years," said Zimmerman.

Zimmerman, 57, has been group vice president, Corporate Affairs, since November 2001. He also served as vice president of Governmental Affairs, executive director of Governmental Relations and executive director of Corporate Economics. He began his career at Ford as the company's chief economist.

Before joining Ford in 1987, Zimmerman was a professor and chairman of the Business Economics Department at the University of Michigan's Graduate School of Business. He was also a faculty member at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zimmerman has a doctorate in economics from M.I.T.

In addition, Zimmerman served one year as senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors and served on the Advisory Council of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration.

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