Caroline Hughes is the Director of Government Relations at Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd., where she and her staff conduct strategic analyses and dialogue with all levels of government regarding public policy and economic issues of importance to Ford of Canada and the Canadian automotive industry. Ms. Hughes is also responsible for developing Ford of Canada's long-range forecasts for new vehicle sales in Canada, and for tracking and reporting on Canadian economic trends.

In addition to her Government Relations responsibilities, Ms. Hughes works with Ford's US manufacturing and product teams on strategic issues involving Ford's Canadian manufacturing operations. Ms. Hughes was part of the Ford team that developed the project to convert Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant into a world-class flexible assembly plant, and a member of the team that is presently working to convert Ford's Essex Engine Plant into a flexible engine manufacturing facility.

Ms. Hughes has more than 20 years of experience with Ford of Canada, having worked in several capacities within Ford's Finance and Canadian Vehicle Sales Division. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Hughes is also an industry advisor on the Executive Committee of the Automotive Policy Research Centre of IMPACT (the Institute for Manufacturing Policy Analysis and Knowledge Transfer) at McMaster University.

Ms. Hughes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Michael's College, University of Toronto and an M.B.A. (Finance) from the Schulich School of Business, York University.