Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc has named former Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Jac Nasser as its new chairman to succeed Don Argus, it said on Tuesday.

Argus will retire in early 2010.

Jac Nasser joined the BHP Billiton board as a non-executive director in 2006 and is a member of the board's risk and audit committee.

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing)