December 15, 1999

Mark Fields Named President of Mazda Motor Corporation

Mazda Motor Corporation today announced that Mark Fields has been named Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing James E. Miller.

Fields joined the company in August 1998 as Senior Adviser. Before this assignment he was Managing Director, Ford Argentina S.A.

Fields said, "I take the responsibility of leading this organization with the utmost earnestness and with the full determination of my efforts."

He continued, "Mr. Miller often spoke about the need for positive and continuous change, and the results Mazda has achieved during his tenure speak for themselves. His strong leadership and passion for Mazda, and the people at Mazda is an inspiration for all of us."

Miller said "Leading this wonderful company for the last 25 months has been the greatest privilege of my life. So it is with deep regret that today I have tendered my resignation to the BOD and have announced my intention to retire from my position for personal reasons. We have worked extraordinarily hard to rebuild the financial strength of the company and progress initiatives to strengthen Mazda's corporate and brand image as well as Mazda's building a sound product plan. While we have made progress on many fronts there is much still to do and I am confident that under Mr. Fields leadership Mazda will continue to build on the foundation which has been established."

Fields stated, "Looking at what Mazda has achieved in the last few years, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that based on the efforts of our people along with strong senior management leadership, we will continue to make very positive progress in the years ahead."

Fields graduated for Rutgers University (USA) in 1983 with a degree in Economics and graduated form Harvard Graduate School of Business (USA) in 1989 with a Master of Business Administration. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1989 and has served in a variety of positions.