Geoff Polites

Who was Geoff Polites?

Geoffrey Paul Polites was the Australian chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover. He had worked with the Ford Motor Company since 1970 and worked several positions up until his death.

Polites started as a Product Planner and completed training in both the United States and Europe, before rejoining Ford Australia in 1975 as Marketing Plans and Research Manager.

During his career he also worked as a manager in sales, merchandising and as a dealer. He won Ford Australia's Dealer of the Year three separate times. He took over as chief executive on 1 October 2005, during this time he worked on the sale of Tata Motors.

In his spare time, Polites was a leading Australian rules football umpire, officiating in 39 senior Victorian Football League matches from 1976-1979.

Polites died of cancer on 20 April, 2008.