The Hart of Ford
STHELIERS 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 photo shoot 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
