Former Ford Exec Martin Leach Dies

NextEV Inc. President Martin Leach died this week after battling cancer for several months. He was 59.

Leach spent most of his career at Ford Motor Co., which he joined as an engineer in 1979. After stints leading Ford’s global research and development efforts and former affiliate Mazda Motor Corp., Leach became president of Ford of Europe in 2002.

He left Ford in 2003 and won a $2.1 million settlement against the carmaker two years later, claiming the company illegally blocked him from being hired as CEO of Fiat Auto. He was chosen in 2004 to head Fiat's Maserati unit but was removed six months later by Fiat's then-new CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Leach later formed and ran the consulting firm Magma International.

He joined NextEV in 2015 and led the company’s Formula E electric vehicle racing team, which finished first in the circuit’s inaugural season. The two-year-old Chinese backed startup plans to unveil its first car, an electric supercar, by year-end.