President of Ford Motor Corporation's Americas group, Mark Fields recently told employees that he will no longer use the company's jet for his weekly commute to Florida. It should be noted that Fields has been criticized in recent months when he called out to all Ford employees to sacrifice and added that they will be eliminating more than 40,000 jobs and reduce employee benefits to reduce costs.
He was recently surprised by a local television news reporter outside his home in Delray Beach, Florida, who was asking him to explain how he could reconcile his costly travel expenses with his calls for sacrifice from Ford employees.
Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt has confirmed Field's decision. He said that according to Fields the whole controversy about him is just a scheme to divert attention away from more important issues like Ford's efforts to turnaround its North American automobile business.
According to Hoyt, "He doesn't want this or any other issue to distract the team. This was Mark's decision. The company supported his commitment to his family." Hoyt further stressed that the decision was entirely Fields?.
The use of Ford corporate jet for his private travel was not just a personal whim on the part of Fields? but rather included in the compensation agreement when he was promoted to head of Ford's Americas group in 2005. In order to fulfill his role at Ford, Fields and his family have had to relocate several times to allow him to give Ford his undivided attention during the week while avoiding disruptions for his wife and children.
In place of the company jet, Fields will be using a commercial carrier to continue his weekly commute from south Florida where his family lives.
About Mark Fields
Mark Fields is President of Ford Motor Corporation's Americas group and an executive of the FoMoCo manufacturer of quality . As head of the Americas division, Fields was tasked to develop Ford's ?The Way Forward? plan a program developed to repair the ailing automaker. He directly reports to Allan Mulally, Ford's CEO for all matters that concern the company.
Mark Fields was born in Brooklyn, New York but grew up in Paramus, New Jersey. He holds an economic degree from Rutgers University and worked for IBM prior to attaining an MBA at Harvard Graduate School of Business. He was recruited by Ford in 1989 and moved up the ranks becoming the youngest person ever to run a major Japanese company when placed him in charge of Mazda Motor Corporation in 1998.
In the year 2002 Mark Fields became chairman of the Premier Automotive Group, Ford's luxury units which include Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo Cars. By 2005 he returned to the United States to head the Americas division of Ford.
When Mark Field was 45 years old he was named business unit chief of Ford Motor's operations in Americas. It was in December 14, 2006 when Ford CEO Mulally announced the promotion of Mark Fields as President of Ford Motor Corporation's Americas group.
