Mazda says Booth to replace Fields as CEO

TOKYO, April 19 Reuters reported Japan's Mazda Motor Co said in a statement on Friday that Lewis Booth would succeed Mark Fields as its president.

Ford Motor Co, which owns one-third of Mazda, said earlier on Friday that Fields would replace outgoing Wolfgang Reitzle as head of Ford's Premier Auto Group.

Mazda, Japan's fifth biggest automaker, said the appointment will be officially decided at a board meeting and a general shareholder's meeting to be held at the end of June.

Booth, who joined the Japanese automaker at the end of February as a senior adviser in charge of corporate strategy, was previously the head of the Asia Pacific and Africa operations of Ford.

Reitzle will be joining German industrial gas and engineering group Linde AG (LING.DE) as its new chief executive officer.