It's finally official. After years of speculation, Ford Motor Co. Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields will succeed Alan Mulally as the company’s president and CEO, effective July 1. Fields, 53, will be the ninth CEO in the company’s more than 110-year history. He also will take Mulally’s seat on the company’s board of directors.Watch video
DEARBORN, MI- It’s finally official. After years of speculation, Ford Motor Co. Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields will succeed Alan Mulally as the company’s president and CEO, effective July 1.
Fields, 53, will be the ninth CEO in the company’s more than 110-year history. He also will take Mulally’s seat on the company’s board of directors.
“It’s just an incredible honor to build on Alan’s legacy and to lead this great company,” Fields said during an event Thursday morning to announce the news at the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. “I feel very fortunate.”
During the Thursday announcement, all three executives -- Bill Ford, Mulally and Fields -- shared the stage to talk about how the company got to where it is under Mulally, and the confidence they have with it under Fields. Many times during the talks, there was laughing, joking and standing ovations from the hundreds of employees in attendance.
Fields, a New York native, even described the transition as “seamless” and “fun" (see video below). Speculation surrounding Mulally’s exodus from Ford has been circulating for years. It escalated last year when Microsoft Corp. was reportedly interested in Mulally as its next CEO.
Mulally and Bill Ford both said they have full confidence in Fields to continue Ford's current momentum.
"I feel great about the fact that he, in my opinion, is going to be another great CEO," said Bill Ford, later calling Fields a "battle-tested executive."
Since starting with Ford in 1989, Fields has had accomplishments in numerous positions, including leading the company's North American operations from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the last four years. Here's a closer look at Fields’ life and career, provided by Ford:
Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company’s chief operating officer since Dec. 1, 2012, has been elected the company’s new president and CEO effective July 1, 2014. At that time, he also will begin serving on the company’s board of directors.
Fields, who joined Ford in July 1989, has led the turnaround of Ford’s businesses in the Americas, Asia and Europe through a focus on delivering product excellence, innovation and operating efficiency.
Ford Motor Company Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields speaks during a news conference in Dearborn, Mich., Thursday, May 1, 2014. Ford announced Fields will replace CEO Alan Mulally, who is retiring July 1. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
As chief operating officer, Fields has been overseeing Ford’s global business operation and most skill teams, including product development, manufacturing, purchasing, as well as marketing, sales and service. He also leads the company’s weekly Business Plan Review process and is overseeing the company’s most aggressive product introduction schedule in its 111-year history and its fastest global manufacturing expansion in 50 years.
Prior to this role, Fields served as executive vice president and president, The Americas, a position to which he was named in October 2005. He led the development and implementation of a comprehensive restructuring plan for the company’s North America business that resulted in turning around heavy losses to record profits, significantly improving brand favorability and improving operating efficiency.
Fields also led Ford’s South American operations to profitability and its conversion from a legacy product lineup to all-new global products.
From 2002 to 2004, Fields served as group vice president, Premier Automotive Group (PAG), and from 2004 to 2005 served as executive vice president, Ford of Europe and PAG, where he led all activities for Ford’s European-based business and its former global luxury brands – Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin. There, he led the development of a comprehensive product plan and delivered PAG’s first-ever profit.
From 1998 to 2002, he served at Mazda Motors Corporation, first as global marketing and sales director and then as president and managing director. Fields led Mazda through a major restructuring and product renaissance. It was during his leadership of Mazda that he was named a Ford Motor Company officer in December 1999.
Before then, he served in a variety of positions in both South America and North America, including managing director of Ford Argentina.
Fields served as chairman of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s 2013-2014 community giving campaign– achieving the organization’s highest year-over-year increase in giving in 17 years. He was named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and CNBC’s Asian Business Leader – Innovator of the Year.
He holds an Economics degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey (USA) and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
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