Mark Fields Quotes (51 Quotes)

The hard but simple reality is that Ford has the costs, capacity and staffing of a company that is much larger than our sales and market share can support -- even under the best of conditions.

I asked Bill Ford and Jim Padilla for not only the best and the brightest leaders in our company, but for the kind of people who can work as one team on one agenda. That agenda is to turn around our North American operation with a team that knows how to win, an innovative product line-up that wins in the marketplace and a brand that has strong emotional appeal. We now have in place an outstanding group of leaders in The Americas, and they already have hit the ground running to turn the business around.

In terms of economic and social influence there is no other company that's had a greater impact on the lives of people in this country and in the 20th century than Ford.

We started introducing clear pricing two years ago. The success of Mustang and Fusion proves that it works. We will bring sticker prices more in line with actual transaction prices and cap 'cash on the hood' rebates as we introduce new cars and trucks into the marketplace. It will protect our margins and consumers, too, through higher resale values.

Cisco, Darryl and Al have years of talent and experience and a winning attitude. They will help bring to reality our accelerated commitment to having customers drive everything that we do.

I just hope that rationality returns to the marketplace because employee pricing sucked the life out of the auto industry for basically the rest of the year.

Each brand has to stand for something. We have had difficulty articulating what they stand for, so how's the consumer supposed to know

We're announcing the appropriate amount of detail we can share with you today.

Lincoln customers don't need to shout about success. They are self-made people with enough confidence to be elegant and understated. That understanding of the Lincoln customers will drive our brand and product decisions going forward.

Idling plants and reducing staff are obviously very difficult decisions for all of us, but they also are necessary actions to help restore our North American business to profitability no later than 2008.

With more focused brands, new product investment and innovation, Ford will slow the rate of loss and then stabilize our U.S. market share in the near term, even as competitors add new models. From there, we can set our sights on the future.

Somewhat slower (economic) growth, higher interest rates and volatile gas prices all add up to auto sales that probably won't outshine last year's selling rate in this new year.

As we go forward, we will make intelligent decisions, looking at our dealer network, working with our dealer partners, to make sure that just as we are right-sizing our manufacturing footprint, we have the right size for our dealer footprint as well.

Ford is a stronger company with all three brands but if -- and only if -- each appeals to a different set of customers.

Barb's ability to deliver outstanding results can be summed up in one word Mustang, ... Her role in helping to lead the development and launch of the hottest car in the industry demonstrated skills that will help our team enormously as we move our way forward.

The criterion is low cost. The criterion is not geography.

We believe our plan is comprehensive and we are starting to make progress. We know there's still a lot of work to do.

Decisive action was needed to get Jaguar back on track and to ensure a viable future,

It sets up everything in the business. If you don't understand who you are, you can't expect your customers to understand you.

Anne is an exceptionally focused and proven leader in this industry, ... Her leadership of Vehicle Operations resulted in a significant quality improvement. She has also overseen profit resurgence in South America and Mexico and increased market share in Canada. We expect her to drive our operations toward greater coordination, efficiency, productivity and results.

Our path is not going to linear and smooth.

So far this year, our U.S. share decline has been half of what it was a year ago. That means we're making progress on slowing the rate of decline, which is the first step toward stabilizing it over time.

We have to pick and choose where we want to compete. The idea you have to be in all the segments, that's an old way of thinking.

We are reducing the number of plants, not necessarily production capacity, thanks to our investment in flexible manufacturing.

You can have the best plan in the world, and if the culture isn't going to let it happen, it's going to die on the vine.

If you look at the CUV right now, it's populated by a lot of vehicles, that, quite honest, are somewhat nondescript.

I am pleasantly surprised at the wealth of artistic talent that has had a connection to South Jersey, either historic or present day. But I am even more surprised that we continue to learn of more such artists and entertainers every year. Any region of any state would be proud to be associated with artists of such stature.

Achieving the goals detailed in the plan is absolutely critical to our future and will require tough decisions, including addressing the rising costs of health care, which we've heard so much about.

Our path is not going to be linear or smooth. It's still early days.

We know how to play offense and play to win. Our plan will deliver more products - from small cars to our largest trucks - that are unmistakably Fords.

But clearly it is my intention to make Jaguar a profitable business.

I'm not going to put a date on when Jaguar will return to profitability, ... But clearly, the plan is to make Jag a profitable business.

Who's most likely to buy our products, who's least likely to buy them and who's up for grabs. This has given us a much deeper insight than we've ever had before using traditional demographic or vehicle segment-based models. One of the most important findings from this research is that there remains a huge market for American cars in this country. And the potential is significantly larger than the roughly 55 percent market share than GM, Ford and Chrysler together command today.

How big the segment will be, that's going to depend on what happens with fuel prices and customer preferences.

But it remains a long journey.

I think to one degree or another we have been arrogant in the past.

We know that the painful choices we are making to idle plants and reduce our staffing create anxiety about the long-term viability of the auto industry itself. But I do not for a moment share the pessimism you're reading about in the press.

Dave has demonstrated very broad, capable leadership throughout his career, ... He is highly respected in the industry and in Ford. I expect him to continue driving our transformation in flexible manufacturing.

We will build on our strengths, including increasing our product investment to fortify our F-Series truck leadership.

one of our most experienced, capable and proven leaders.

Edge underscores the bold, American design direction for all Ford vehicles going forward. Edge also is packed with Ford innovation from its panoramic glass roof and laptop-friendly center console to fuel-saving engine and advanced safety features. We expect Edge to make waves in the hot crossover market this year just like the Fusion did for midsize cars last year.

We remain very committed to the low-cost facility.

A decision to end production at a plant is not an easy one, and I'm deeply mindful of the impact this decision has on Ford employees, families and communities. Unfortunately, these are necessary steps we must take to move the business forward.

We can't continue on the same path of incentives our competitors have introduced.

What you will see is very original in execution, but very Ford at its heart. It starts to fulfill the promise we made in January, as part of our Way Forward plan, to think like our customers and see the world through their eyes.

Maciel has made a significant contribution to the Ford Motor Company global business through innovations in product, business and marketing strategies. We wish Maciel well in his new role and thank him for his work at Ford Motor Company.

I'm wary of answering questions about my new job. My approach is to listen, learn, come to conclusions and implement with my team.

We were making significant progress to realize the goals set some 20 years ago for an arts center that promoted the region's cultural groups and served a diverse community.

It's starting the process of being on the mend, but we've got a long way to go, ... My expectation was that Jaguar would show sequential improvement in its business results, and so far it has. At the same time, the Jag situation does not lend itself to a quick fix.

The hard reality is that Ford has the costs, capacity and staffing of a company that is much larger than our sales and market share can support -- even under the best conditions.