mackinaw Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Pretty good article on Mark Fields, by Bill Vlasic, in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/business/mark-fields-is-fords-mr-inside-and-its-heir-apparent.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I think Mulally has given Fields the additional experience, knowledge and wherewithall to take on the job. Like the article states, "unless he screws something up royally, he will be the next CEO". I agree and feel it is our best bet at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 He'll do fine, iMHO. His Mazda experience gives him a breadth of knowledge of other cultures that makes people like Nardelli or Akerson look like the goofs they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyd Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 To me, Fields is a follower. Jac Nasser moved him to the Premium group in charge of bolstering sales in Jag, Volvo and Aston Martin. As we all know...hundreds of millions of $$$ were invested and we still lost sales after he took over. The Mazda experience to me was lackluster, never really boosted market share and now look at Mazda...spun off. Fields was highly criticized for using company planes to fly to his mansion in Florida while the company was bleeding from Jac's knife. I really think Ford could pick someone more capable than Fields. Problem grows as the Ford insiders groom him more and more...to the point he will become a liability if he is passed over like Bob Lutz was...and look how Lutz ran to GM with all those secrets because his ego was hurt. Fields will do the same. He'll do fine, iMHO. His Mazda experience gives him a breadth of knowledge of other cultures that makes people like Nardelli or Akerson look like the goofs they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 To me, Fields is a follower. Jac Nasser moved him to the Premium group in charge of bolstering sales in Jag, Volvo and Aston Martin. As we all know...hundreds of millions of $$$ were invested and we still lost sales after he took over. The Mazda experience to me was lackluster, never really boosted market share and now look at Mazda...spun off. Fields was highly criticized for using company planes to fly to his mansion in Florida while the company was bleeding from Jac's knife. I really think Ford could pick someone more capable than Fields. Problem grows as the Ford insiders groom him more and more...to the point he will become a liability if he is passed over like Bob Lutz was...and look how Lutz ran to GM with all those secrets because his ego was hurt. Fields will do the same. You can't always measure a good manager by the success or failure of the business. You have to look at whether the right decisions were made at the time with the right information. Sometimes the outcome is beyond your control. But forget about PAG and Mazda - how has he done with North America the last several years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 To me, Fields is a follower. Jac Nasser moved him to the Premium group in charge of bolstering sales in Jag, Volvo and Aston Martin. As we all know...hundreds of millions of $$ were invested and we still lost sales after he took over. The Mazda experience to me was lackluster, never really boosted market share and now look at Mazda...spun off. The PAG was a bad idea from the get go that derverted money that should have been going into Ford...I understand why they did it (shift to the luxury market in the EU in the later 1990s). Mazda had serious issues when he took over and fixed them, and they where also a deverison that Ford didn't need with its own core screwed up. to the point he will become a liability if he is passed over like Bob Lutz was...and look how Lutz ran to GM with all those secrets because his ego was hurt. Fields will do the same. And this shows to me that you have no idea what they hell your talking about..all Lutz did was destroy FOE and help run GM into the shitter and Bankruptcy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Whether you believe in Fields or not, being the new CEO of Ford is his to lose. And he is the age where he could offer stable stewardship for many years. He seems to have good eye for detail and instinctively knows when vehicle is not right as he has sent designers back to drawing board when he sees something he doesn't like. He has done a good job of carrying out Mulally's vision and his mouth is not a loose cannon like Farley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 The Mazda experience to me was lackluster, The Mazda experience to me was solid, productive, organizing Mazda's platforms and powertrains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 To me, Fields is a follower. Jac Nasser moved him to the Premium group in charge of bolstering sales in Jag, Volvo and Aston Martin. As we all know...hundreds of millions of $$$ were invested and we still lost sales after he took over. The Mazda experience to me was lackluster, never really boosted market share and now look at Mazda...spun off. Fields was highly criticized for using company planes to fly to his mansion in Florida while the company was bleeding from Jac's knife. I really think Ford could pick someone more capable than Fields. Problem grows as the Ford insiders groom him more and more...to the point he will become a liability if he is passed over like Bob Lutz was...and look how Lutz ran to GM with all those secrets because his ego was hurt. Fields will do the same. PAG and Mazda both returned to profit (albeit briefly in PAG's case) under Fields' stewardship. Mazda launched perhaps its clearest brand direction in history under Fields (Zoom Zoom), and the Orlando family thing was way overblown. Fields had spent years away from his family running PAG & Mazda while his family stayed stateside, and when he was sent back to Europe to fix FoE, he got permission from the company to relocate his family to Orlando, and fly back and forth between Europe and Orlando. When he was yanked out of Europe after something under two years, Ford continued to pay for his flights to Orlando. And Lutz went to GM from Chrysler, leaving Chrysler pretty much the way he'd left FoE--with a bunch of uncompetitive products he wasn't interested in and one or two interesting products that absorbed an inordinate amount of his time and company resources (Scorpio @ FoE, Viper and Prowler @ Chrysler, Kappa cars & V-Series @ GM). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Another point I'll make is that the current direction and plan were put into motion with Mulally and Fields in place. To switch to an outsider who may have a gigantic ego and with something to prove could really derail the current seemingly working plan. I think that risk is too large and dangerous to bring someone in from the outside. The continuity of the plan must remain in tact until everything is done and we're clearing the 9% margins we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 9% percent margins probably can't be sustained with Ford's costs. I respect Vlasic as a writer, but I think he may have drawn too much attention to net margins at other companies, given that Ford most likely is not structuring their internal goals around meeting or exceeding margins at another company. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyd Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I hope you're right. GM must still like him since I think he's still on their payroll at nearly 80...or at least high 70's. He is given much credit for the 'Volt' and now he has a VIa Motors business with electric Chevy Silverados that he has started taking orders for. Electric pickups...could make sense. The PAG was a bad idea from the get go that derverted money that should have been going into Ford...I understand why they did it (shift to the luxury market in the EU in the later 1990s). Mazda had serious issues when he took over and fixed them, and they where also a deverison that Ford didn't need with its own core screwed up. And this shows to me that you have no idea what they hell your talking about..all Lutz did was destroy FOE and help run GM into the shitter and Bankruptcy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Since when is GM's affection for a person or product a ringing endorsement of said person or product. The way they're clinging to this septuagenarian suggests that their product development team (which was shoddy when Lutz arrived) is in even worse shape now that he's left. In his posts at Ford, Chrysler and GM, Lutz has *never* left the company better off than he found it. Yet he had the temerity to write a book where extolling his virtues as a builder of businesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Bob Lutz has a cupboard full of golden parachutes, he knows when to push off before the shit storm arrives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyd Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 A couple issues to clarify...the Zoom-Zoom slogan was NOT a Mark Field's idea at all. The slogan was created by W.B. Doner agency in late 2000. Fields left Mazda in 2000 for Europe and PAG and was replaced by Lewis Booth. PAG was a loser with Aston Martin/Jaguar/Land Rover and Volvo. None of these products made any profit from the time purchased in 1999 till Mulally sold it 7 years later, it lost well over $7 billion ! Ouch. Thank Jac for most of that...also the $1 billion of Ford revenue he was dumping monthly in the market to keep Ford stock lucrative. I think he had to be one of the worst leaders Ford will ever have in our lifetime. As far as Lutz and his credit for Volt/Prowler and Electric Pick up Trucks......you have to give him some credit and we'll have to wait and see if the electric vehicle ideas pan out. Afterall, pick up trucks outsell everything else. Ford and Toyota are working on that...I still don't trust the Japanese. PAG and Mazda both returned to profit (albeit briefly in PAG's case) under Fields' stewardship. Mazda launched perhaps its clearest brand direction in history under Fields (Zoom Zoom), and the Orlando family thing was way overblown. Fields had spent years away from his family running PAG & Mazda while his family stayed stateside, and when he was sent back to Europe to fix FoE, he got permission from the company to relocate his family to Orlando, and fly back and forth between Europe and Orlando. When he was yanked out of Europe after something under two years, Ford continued to pay for his flights to Orlando. And Lutz went to GM from Chrysler, leaving Chrysler pretty much the way he'd left FoE--with a bunch of uncompetitive products he wasn't interested in and one or two interesting products that absorbed an inordinate amount of his time and company resources (Scorpio @ FoE, Viper and Prowler @ Chrysler, Kappa cars & V-Series @ GM). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 A couple issues to clarify...the Zoom-Zoom slogan was NOT a Mark Field's idea at all. The slogan was created by W.B. Doner agency in late 2000. Fields left Mazda in 2000 Mark Fields: 1999-2002. Zoom Zoom: 2000. And nobody ever tried to credit Fields with coming up with the idea - obviously presidents don't think of advertising slogans, not good ones anyway. But there is leadership involved in picking a marketing direction that resonates with your customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Mark Fields: 1999-2002. Zoom Zoom: 2000. And nobody ever tried to credit Fields with coming up with the idea - obviously presidents don't think of advertising slogans, not good ones anyway. But there is leadership involved in picking a marketing direction that resonates with your customers. You beat me to it! I was verifying his biography on Ford's media site before posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) Fields ran Mazda from '98 to 2002. http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051225/AUTO01/512250365/1148/AUTO01 That would put "Zoom Zoom" smack in the middle of his watch. None of these products made any profit from the time purchased in 1999 till Mulally sold it 7 years later, it lost well over $7 billion PAG turned a profit in 2003, and FoE turned a profit in 2004. http://corporate.ford.com/our-company/investors/reports-financial-information/annual-reports?releaseId=1244753689627 Fields headed the FoE/PAG operational unit both those years. BTW: I have to correct some information posted earlier. Fields assumed control of both PAG & FoE in '02, as PAG and FoE were a single business unit. Also, Fields ran PAG/FoE for just over two years, not less than two years. Edited February 20, 2012 by RichardJensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyd Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 You guys are too fast...I was going to change the 2000 to 2002.......but... Zoom-Zoom...too fast! You beat me to it! I was verifying his biography on Ford's media site before posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 you have to give him some credit I give him credit for occasionally being right. However his reputation far exceeds his accomplishments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Fields ran Mazda from '98 to 2002. http://www.detroitne...365/1148/AUTO01 According to the Mazda press release, Mark Fields was made president December '99, having "joined the company in August 1998 as Senior Adviser". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Anyone seen the latest Mazda commercials running last couple weeks? I think they are pretty cool as they focus on Mazda's racing heritage showing off some of their LMP vehicles, spec Miatas, and lots of their present vehicles drawing attention to their new Skyactiv technology. I sure hope they make it as to me they are kind of a Japanese version of a Porsche auto company. If they got profitable again, I bet you would see a new RX sports car that would be very competitive. The commercial also draws attention to their engineering prowess. Again, Ford would be foolish to sever ties completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyd Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 OK..I have to be careful with my numbers since you guys are hawks. Yes, Ford did peep a $164 million profit in 2003, but went negative in the years that followed....so considering that amount from an initial investment of $17 billion....not good. I'm not blaming him for the sinking of the PAG Titanic, but lets also not give him any credit. My point being that he really didn't do anything either way at PAG. Fields ran Mazda from '98 to 2002. http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051225/AUTO01/512250365/1148/AUTO01 That would put "Zoom Zoom" smack in the middle of his watch. PAG turned a profit in 2003, and FoE turned a profit in 2004. http://corporate.ford.com/our-company/investors/reports-financial-information/annual-reports?releaseId=1244753689627 Fields headed the FoE/PAG operational unit both those years. BTW: I have to correct some information posted earlier. Fields assumed control of both PAG & FoE in '02, as PAG and FoE were a single business unit. Also, Fields ran PAG/FoE for just over two years, not less than two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 OK..I have to be careful with my numbers considering that amount from an initial investment of $17 billion Be careful with your numbers. Ford's initial investment in AM, JLR and Volvo was *considerably* less than $17B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 My point being that he really didn't do anything either way at PAG. He wasn't at PAG/FoE long enough to have a deep impact, but he presided over a lot of cost cutting at FoE during his tenure as head of that business unit, and that's why they racked up a $1.7B loss in 2003. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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