????福特汽車公司（Ford Motor Co.）與通用汽車公司（General Motors）一直是競爭對手，現在，福特正在將競爭升級。英國WPP PLC公司旗下的Team Detroit是福特的廣告代理公司，該公司計劃聘請馬克?拉內韋擔任首席運營官。現年53歲的拉內韋之前曾經長期擔任通用汽車高管，在通用2009年破產后離職。

????直到今年2月，拉內韋在位于伊利諾斯州諾斯布魯克的好事達公司（Allstate Corp.）擔任首席營銷官，現在，他將擔任Team Detroit首席執行官薩蒂什?科德的副手。據熟悉Team Detroit公司的人士透露，拉內韋將占據關鍵崗位，指揮福特的全球營銷事務。本刊未能馬上聯系到福特公司發言人對此事置評。

????拉內韋的任命是底特律在短短幾天內的第二起高管人事變動，就在上周日，通用汽車首席營銷官喬爾?伊萬尼克突然辭職。接近通用汽車的人士聲稱，雪佛蘭品牌與曼聯隊之間的營銷協議存在“不當行為”，從而導致了伊萬尼克下臺。伊萬尼克拒絕對此發表評論。

????頂層人事變動凸顯隨著汽車制造商已經慢慢開始從本輪金融危機中恢復元氣，福特和通用汽車之間的對抗正在加劇。美國這兩大本土汽車制造商發現，在從加州到加爾各答的全球主要市場上，它們之間的競爭比以往任何時候都要激烈。在美國市場上，通用汽車銷售額排在首位，福特位居第二。而在全球范圍內，通用汽車正在與豐田（Toyota）和大眾（Volkswagen）爭奪頭把交椅。福特則僅位居前六名之列。

????能夠在全球范圍內有效部署數十億美元廣告和促銷預算的頂級營銷高管現在似乎在這一爭奪中扮演關鍵角色。仍有26%股票掌握在美國政府手中的通用汽車發現自己的營銷業務突然沒了領頭羊，至少暫時是如此。與此同時，福特聘請了一位曾經的通用汽車高管，他熟悉自己的老東家、現在已經是對手的文化和戰術。福特還聘請了至少三位前通用汽車公共關系主管就職于其廣告代理公司。

????吉姆?法利是福特的首席營銷官，由執行董事長小比爾?福特從豐田汽車挖過來。法利一直十分蔑視通用汽車。《紐約時報》（New York Times）記者比爾?弗拉西克在其2011年出版的《汽車往事》（Once Upon a car）一書中，曾引述法利稱“（他）想重創通用汽車。他帶著稍顯邪惡的笑容說道：‘我將迎頭痛擊雪佛蘭。而且我將享受勝利的喜悅。’”（法利后來告訴記者，他后來給伊萬尼克打過電話，向他道歉。）

????拉內韋在其職業生涯早期曾就職于沃爾沃（Volvo），其間這家瑞典公司一度被福特收歸旗下。拉內韋的成名之地主要是在凱迪拉克（Cadillac），并最終負責運行通用汽車旗下這一豪華車品牌。開發并在2002年推出凱迪拉克CTS轎車，拉內韋功不可沒，這款轎車為凱迪拉克品牌在美國市場扭轉頹勢提供了立足點。CTS是今年推出的XTS和ATS車型的先驅。拉內韋在通用汽車經銷商中也極富人氣，其中很多經銷商同時也擁有福特的專營權。

????福特很可能利用拉內韋營銷豪華車的經驗，試圖鞏固并振興表現不佳的林肯系列。這位通用汽車前營銷主管將幫助這家急需豪車戰略的汽車公司，擴大其在中國市場的營銷基礎，福特在中國建立伙伴關系起步較晚。在中國這個迅速增長的市場上，通用汽車的凱迪拉克和別克（Buick）品牌已經搶占先機。

????這個職位對拉內韋來說再合適不過。今年早些時候，通用汽車首席執行官丹?艾克森被底特律一家報紙問及福特多年來銷量一直在下降的林肯品牌。艾克森沒有客氣。他說：“他們正想方設法，試圖復活林肯品牌。要我說，這根本是白費力氣。沒戲。”

????拉內韋有一對患有自閉癥的雙胞胎兒子，在離職并重返底特律地區擔任顧問之前的兩年里，他每周通勤到好事達總部。拉內韋開始新工作的日期預計將很快就會公布。

????譯者：項航

????Ford Motor Co. is escalating its long-standing rivalry with General Motors. Ford's advertising agency, Team Detroit, a unit of Great Britain's WPP PLC, is planning to install Mark LaNeve as its chief operating officer. LaNeve, 53, was a long-time GM executive who left in the wake of the company's 2009 bankruptcy.

????LaNeve, who worked until February as chief marketing officer for Northbrook, Illinois-based Allstate Corp. (ALL), will serve as No. 2 to Satish Korde, Team Detroit's chief executive officer. He will occupy a key post commanding Ford's (F) marketing initiatives worldwide, according to sources close to the company. A Ford spokesperson was not immediately available to provide comment.

????LaNeve's appointment represents the second major power realignment in Detroit in a matter of days, coming on the heels of the abrupt resignation of GM's (GM) CMO Joel Ewanick on Sunday. Sources close to GM claim that "improprieties" in connection with a marketing agreement between its Chevrolet brand and the Manchester United soccer team led to Ewanick's ouster. Ewanick has declined comment.

????The top-level personnel moves highlight the growing confrontation between Ford and GM, as automakers claw their way back from the lows of the financial crisis. More than ever, America's two top domestic automakers find themselves fighting each other in vital markets around the globe, from California to Calcutta. GM ranks number one in U.S. sales, with Ford behind it. Globally, GM competes with Toyota and Volkswagen for the top spot. Ford is in the top six.

????Top marketing executives capable of effectively deploying multi-billion advertising and promotional budgets worldwide appear to now be taking center stage in that struggle. GM, still 26%-owned by the U.S., finds itself without a leader, at least temporarily. Ford, meanwhile, has recruited a onetime GM executive who is conversant with his former employer's -- now adversary's -- culture and tactics. Ford has also hired at least three former GM public relations executives to work for its agencies.

????Jim Farley, Ford's chief marketer who was recruited from Toyota (TM) by executive chairman Bill Ford Jr., has been scathing in his disdain for GM. Farley was quoted in New York Times reporter Bill Vlasic's 2011 book Once Upon A Car, chronicling the collapse of Detroit automaking in 2008 and 2009 saying that "[what he] really wanted to do was kick the daylights out of General Motors. 'I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat,' he said with a slightly wicked smile. 'And I'm going to enjoy it.'" (Later Farley told reporters he had called Ewanick to apologize.)

????LaNeve, who earlier in his career worked for Volvo, including a period when the Swedish company was owned by Ford, made his reputation mostly at Cadillac, eventually running the GM luxury brand. He was integral to the development and 2002 introduction of the Cadillac CTS sedan, a model that provided a toehold for the brand's turnaround in the U.S. The CTS was the precursor to the XTS and ATS models introduced this year. LaNeve was also extremely popular with GM dealers, many of whom also own Ford franchises.

????Ford is likely to draw on LaNeve's experience as a marketer of luxury automobiles in an attempt to fortify and revive its floundering Lincoln franchise. The former GM marketing executive will be helping a car company that badly needs a luxury strategy, as well as to broaden its marketing base in China, where it was late in establishing partnerships. GM is ahead with its Cadillac and Buick brands in that rapidly growing market.

????LaNeve will have his work cut out for him. Earlier this year, GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson was asked by a Detroit newspaper about Ford's Lincoln brand, whose sales have flagged for years. He didn't hold back. "They are trying like hell to resurrect Lincoln. Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It's over," Mr. Akerson said.

????The father of twin autistic sons, LaNeve commuted weekly to Allstate headquarters for two years prior to leaving that post and returning to the Detroit area to work as a consultant. LaNeve's start date is expected to be announced shortly.