Mark Fields

Mark Fields is the executive vice president of Ford Motor Company and president of its Americas division, a position to which he was named in October 2005. In this role, Fields is responsible for all operations involved in the development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales of Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South America.

A respected visionary in the auto industry, experts often credit Fields with saving Ford. This bold attribution is a testament to his recent restructuring plan that allowed the company to avoid taking government bailout funds and reap success in a difficult economic climate. The plan, shaped with input from 50 other Ford managers, is called the “Way Forward” plan, and Fields unveiled it to stockholders and employees in 2006. It emphasizes an investment in products focused on quality, safety, technology, and fuel economy and calls for drastic cost cutting.

Fields has been with Ford since his graduation from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1989. He previously served as executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group (PAG), where he led all activities for Ford’s premium vehicle business group and for Ford-brand vehicles manufactured and sold in European countries. Prior to that, he was chairman and chief executive officer of PAG.

From 2000-2002, Fields was president and CEO of Mazda Motor Company, leading the organization through a period of significant transformation. He previously held a number of positions in both South and North America, including managing director of Ford Argentina.

Fields was named a “Global Leader of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum in 2000 and received “Innovator of the Year” honors in 2001 at CNBC’s Asia Business Leader Awards. At Rutgers, he majored in economics and was a leader of the Zeta Psi fraternity.