Mark Fields

Mark Fields
Born	Template:Birth year and age
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive, corporate board member
Employer	Fluor Corporation (board member)
Known for	President and CEO of Ford Motor Company (2014–2017)

Mark Fields (born 1961) is an American business executive who served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company from 2014 to 2017. A career automotive industry leader, Fields rose through the ranks at Ford over more than two decades, holding senior positions in the company's operations across multiple continents before ascending to its top leadership role. His tenure as CEO was marked by efforts to reposition Ford as both an automaker and a mobility company, investing in autonomous vehicle technology, ride-sharing ventures, and electric vehicles. Since departing Ford, Fields has remained active in the corporate world as a board member and commentator on the automotive industry, offering analysis on topics including the transition to electric vehicles and the challenges facing legacy automakers. As of 2025, he serves on the board of directors of Fluor Corporation, a major engineering and construction firm.

Early Life

Mark Fields was born in 1961 in the United States. Details regarding his family background and childhood are not extensively documented in publicly available sources. He grew up during a period of significant transformation in the American automotive industry, which would later become the defining arena of his professional career.

Career

Rise at Ford Motor Company

Fields built his career at Ford Motor Company over a span of more than two decades. He held a series of increasingly senior leadership positions within the global automaker, gaining experience in multiple international markets and business divisions. His responsibilities grew to encompass oversight of major regional operations, and he became known within the company as a results-oriented executive capable of managing large-scale organizational challenges.

Fields served in leadership roles in Ford's operations in both North America and internationally, including a significant period overseeing the company's business in the Asia-Pacific region and in South America. He also played a key role in leading Ford's Americas division, which represented the company's largest and most profitable market. His track record in these positions positioned him as a leading candidate for the company's top executive role.

President and CEO of Ford Motor Company (2014–2017)

Fields was appointed President and CEO of Ford Motor Company in 2014, succeeding Alan Mulally, who had led the company through the 2008 financial crisis without accepting a government bailout — a distinction among the Detroit "Big Three" automakers. Fields inherited a company that was financially stable but facing an industry in rapid transformation due to emerging technologies, changing consumer preferences, and the rise of Silicon Valley competitors in the mobility and autonomous driving spaces.

During his tenure, Fields sought to redefine Ford's identity beyond that of a traditional automaker. He articulated a vision of Ford as both an auto and a mobility company, directing substantial investment toward autonomous vehicle technology, connectivity, and electric vehicle development. Under his leadership, Ford made strategic investments in companies and startups working on ride-sharing, autonomous driving software, and related technologies. The company also announced plans to invest in electric vehicle platforms.

Fields led Ford during a period when the company's stock price faced pressure, even as the company posted strong profits, particularly from its North American truck and SUV lineup. Investors expressed concerns about the pace of the company's transition to new technologies relative to competitors, and about the profitability outlook of Ford's international operations. In May 2017, Ford's board of directors replaced Fields as CEO with Jim Hackett, who had been leading the company's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Ford Smart Mobility.

Post-Ford Career and Industry Commentary

Following his departure from Ford, Fields transitioned into roles as a corporate board member and industry commentator. He joined the board of directors of Fluor Corporation, a publicly traded engineering and construction company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of February 2026, Fields remained active as a Fluor board member; a securities filing in February 2026 disclosed that he sold 5,178 shares of Fluor Corporation stock.

Fields has also become a prominent voice in discussions about the automotive industry's transition to electric vehicles. In October 2025, he offered analysis on the trajectory of EV adoption in the United States, predicting that demand for electric vehicles would experience "gradual growth" over the long term as consumers eventually pivot away from internal combustion engine vehicles. His comments reflected a nuanced view of the market, acknowledging the long-term direction toward electrification while cautioning that the transition would not be as rapid as some industry participants had anticipated.

In an October 2025 interview with Business Insider, Fields, then 64 years old, offered a critical assessment of how automakers — including his former employer — had approached the electric vehicle market. He stated that automakers "went full bore" into manufacturing electric vehicles without adequately considering the consumer experience and the practical barriers to EV adoption. Fields argued that the industry had not sufficiently thought about what it would take to persuade mainstream consumers to switch from combustion-engine vehicles to electric alternatives, including issues related to pricing, charging infrastructure, range anxiety, and the overall value proposition for buyers.

This perspective was echoed in coverage by Ford Authority, an automotive news outlet, which reported on Fields's assertion that EV market share growth would be gradual moving forward, largely due to pricing disparities between electric and combustion-engine vehicles and an insufficient charging infrastructure network in the United States. Fields's commentary positioned him as a pragmatic voice in an industry debate often characterized by competing narratives of rapid disruption versus incremental change.

His public statements on the EV transition have drawn attention because of his unique vantage point as a former CEO of one of the world's largest automakers, one who both championed the early stages of Ford's electrification strategy and subsequently observed the challenges that materialized as the industry scaled its EV ambitions. Fields's critique that the industry had prioritized production capacity over consumer readiness resonated with broader industry trends observed in 2024 and 2025, during which several automakers revised or delayed their EV production targets in response to slower-than-expected demand growth.

Board Memberships and Corporate Governance

In addition to his role at Fluor Corporation, Fields has been involved in corporate governance activities consistent with his experience as a senior executive of a Fortune 500 company. His sale of Fluor shares in February 2026, as reported in securities filings, reflected routine insider transactions subject to regulatory disclosure requirements. Such transactions are standard among corporate board members who receive stock-based compensation as part of their service.

Personal Life

Mark Fields was born in 1961. As of 2025, he was 64 years old. Specific details about his personal life, including family and residence, are not extensively documented in the publicly available sources reviewed for this article.

Legacy

Mark Fields's tenure at Ford Motor Company, while spanning only three years as CEO, took place during a period that proved to be a critical inflection point for the global automotive industry. His efforts to position Ford as a mobility company anticipated many of the strategic directions that the industry would subsequently pursue more aggressively, including investment in autonomous driving, connectivity, and electrification.

His post-CEO commentary on the EV market has contributed to industry discourse, particularly his argument that automakers invested heavily in electric vehicle production without adequately addressing consumer concerns about pricing, charging infrastructure, and the overall ownership experience. This perspective gained relevance as the industry encountered headwinds in EV adoption rates during the mid-2020s, validating some of the concerns Fields had articulated.

Fields's career trajectory — from operational leadership across Ford's global divisions to the CEO suite and subsequently to board-level governance and public commentary — exemplifies a pattern common among senior automotive executives, who often continue to shape industry discourse well after their operational tenures conclude. His views on the pace and nature of the electric vehicle transition have been cited by multiple business and automotive news outlets, reflecting his continued relevance as an industry voice.