After more than 38 years with Ford, Sunil Sewmohan feels it’s time to give back and help guide others to carve out a successful career in the automotive business.
He knows what it takes. Having joined Ford as an engineering trainee in 1985, Sunil is now product marketing director and board member at the Ford Motor Company South Africa. It’s the latest in a series of senior management positions that have seen him lead product planning and product development teams in China, the Middle East, and now at home in South Africa.
“My motto has always been to work hard and play hard,” he said. “If someone closes the door in my face I find as many other ways as I can to get in, and I approach problems with a sense of urgency, rigour and robustness. I love to make things happen and not be a victim of the situation.”
Sunil says every day comes with new challenges and a different set of problems to be solved.
“My job is to work with my team to guide and coach them on how to approach the job at hand or challenges posed by any given situation. I strive to help my teams grow and be the best they can be in how they approach and deliver the work that we do.”
Married with two grown children, Sunil likes to spend his free time gardening – where the peace and simplicity helps clear his mind – or tinkering on his 1961 Ford Thames van or 1971 Jaguar XJ6 in the garage.
“I’m a petrolhead – something I inherited from my dad who was a mechanic – and I’ve been working on cars since I was 12,” he explained. He’s also an avid DIYer, and says he prefers to work on projects around the house than get someone in.
When his hands aren’t covered in dirt, dust or classic car grease, Sunil loves to spend time with his family, either socializing around the braai or dinner table, or playing table tennis, board games or billiards.
“I also love to travel, and I’m always up for a game drive at any given moment,” Sunil said.
His moral compasses have always been his parents, but he says he has also been inspired by many direct and indirect managers over the years – valuing mutual respect, trust, transparency, candor, fairness, courtesy and commitment above all else.
“I adopt the good from a role model at any point in time and reject the bad from the same or others. I look up to people who share my values and hope that it inspires others to push themselves too.”