President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal-Mogul Corporation
Jose Maria Alapont is president, chief executive officer and a director of Federal-Mogul Corporation, a leading global supplier of vehicle powertrain and safety technologies designed to improve fuel economy, reduce vehicle emissions and enhance vehicle safety. Alapont’s rise to corporate leadership began in 1974 when he joined Ford Motor Company of Spain, serving in a variety of management and executive positions focusing on quality, testing, validation, manufacturing and purchasing until 1989. He then joined Valeo, a global automotive supplier, where he was named vice president of the worldwide clutch and transmission components division, and then group vice president of worldwide lighting systems division until 1997. Steadily climbing the corporate ladder, Alapont joined Delphi Corporation, a global automotive supplier in 1997, as executive director of international operations. In 1999, he was promoted to vice president of Delphi Corporation, president of Delphi Europe, Middle East and Africa, and became a member of the Delphi Strategy Board, the company’s top policy-making group. In 2003, he was named president of Delphi’s international operations and vice president of sales and marketing. Opportunity knocked once more in 2003 when Alapont was invited to serve as chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of IVECO, the commercial vehicle division of the Fiat Group. He also was a member of the Fiat Group Executive Committee, the company’s strategy and policymaking group. It was the culmination of this experience which led Alapont to his current role as president, chief executive officer and a director of Federal-Mogul Corporation. Alapont has more than 35 years of global leadership experience with both vehicle manufacturers and suppliers encompassing business and operations responsibilities in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. In addition to his work at Federal-Mogul, Alapont is a member of the board of directors of Mentor Graphics and provides valuable guidance to the boards of automotive supplier trade associations and economic development groups in the U.S., Spain and other countries. In 2010, Alapont was honored with an Inspiracion Award by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which recognizes Hispanic business leaders in the U.S. for their leadership and serving as a role model to Hispanic students and the Hispanic business community as a whole. He also was presented with Philadelphia University’s Leader of Innovation Medal in 2011 for his personal accomplishments and for exemplifying the University’s mission and innovative spirit. A native of Spain, Alapont earned degrees in industrial engineering from the Technical School of Valencia in Spain and in philology from the University of Valencia in Spain.
