Company Ford occupies the second place in the market of new cars in Austria, and it is right behind Volkswagen. However, it is a little-known fact that two Bosnians are responsible for the success of Ford in this country.
Danijel Dzihic from Prijedor has been Director-General of Ford Austria for three years now, while Dario Hajdarevic from Sarajevo is director of the biggest salon FordStore in the 21st Vienna Bezirk.
“I found a job in Ford after finishing my studies of international economic relations in Eisenstadt, the city where I grew up. I worked as a financial analyst at the European Headquarters of Ford in Cologne, and then I became a product manager for commercial vehicles of this brand in Austria. Later on, I spent three years in the Ford Motor Company in Switzerland, where I was a marketing director before I got the position of Director General of Ford in Austria,” said Danijel Dzihic.
On the other side, Dario Hajdarevic said that his life story is a bit more turbulent.
“After graduating from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Sarajevo, the war started and I came to Austria. I first washed the dishes in the ski resort Obergurgl in Tyrol, and then I worked in the grocery store, but I was always a car lover. I have 99 % of gasoline in my body and 1 % of the blood. I received a scholarship from the Car Factory Sarajevo (TAS) during my studies, and I got my first automotive experience in Austria as the sales manager of KIA in Innsbruck, at a time when this producer from Korea was just entering the market. Next, I went to Volkswagen and later on, I became the head of Piaggio’s product import in the company Faber from Vienna. When I was offered to take over at the biggest European salon of Ford in Vienna, I did not hesitate at all,” said Hajdarevic.
Dzihic and Hajdarevic achieved extraordinary careers in Austria, and they completely assimilated into the society there.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
