Derrick Kuzak, then Ford group vice president, Global Product Development, (left) and Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice president, Research & Development, sign a Memorandum of Understanding in August of 2011. Kuzak, a quiet but extremely competent engineer was expert on delivering JV programs across differing corporate cultures, including the Japanese based on his long series of successful collaborations with Mazda. Had he not retired, the outcome here might have been different.