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Ford Owning Mazda

25 messages,  Last post on Mar 29, 2007 at 10:38 AM

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#4 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [ex_tdier] by rorr
Mar 25, 2007 (6:58 am)
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Replying to: ex_tdier (Mar 23, 2007 9:52 pm)

"Does anyone feel that there is any difference, say an improvement or a degradation in any way with Mazda, whether it's customer service, management style or reliability because Ford owns Mazda?"
 
Before we dive too far out on this topic, is everyone aware that Ford does NOT own Mazda?
 
Ford owns a controlling stake (about 33%) of Mazda; that is a bit different from actually OWNING Mazda.
#5 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [rorr] by nj2pa2nc
Mar 25, 2007 (8:43 am)
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Replying to: rorr (Mar 25, 2007 6:58 am)

we used to own a 1991 Mazda Mx-6 gt (turbo)(the same as the ford probe) that we bought new. It was basically built by Ford. Our car loan was thru Ford Finance. When we sold it, it had 250,000+miles with the original clutch,transmission,engine,turbo and ran terrific. The person that bought it came back to show us what the did to it-new paint, seat covers, radio, but did not have to do anything mechanically. I guess being a ford product was no problem
#6 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [ex_tdier] by godaddy1
Mar 25, 2007 (10:08 am)
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Replying to: ex_tdier (Mar 24, 2007 8:36 pm)

What is this door lock flaw you have mentioned?
#7 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [godaddy1] by ex_tdier
Mar 25, 2007 (11:18 am)
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Replying to: godaddy1 (Mar 25, 2007 10:08 am)

What is this door lock flaw you have mentioned?
 
http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=67368.new;topicseen#new
#8 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [ex_tdier] by audia8q
Mar 26, 2007 (8:02 am)
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Replying to: ex_tdier (Mar 23, 2007 9:52 pm)

I know that without Ford's buying power, financial resources and engineering the current product line would not be what it is today. Mazda needed to increase sales volume and product development but the Mazda checkbook didn't have the funds to develop so many new vehicle lines at the sametime....Ford's global resources played a huge role in the current lineup.
#9 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [nj2pa2nc] by aviboy97
Mar 26, 2007 (8:05 am)
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Replying to: nj2pa2nc (Mar 25, 2007 8:43 am)

The MX-6 was a good car. I have heard many run the vehicle to well over 200,000. A service tech in my dealership owns a '95 MX-6 that is approaching 300,000.
 
The MX-6 used the F2T engine, a 2.2L Turbo with 145hp that was built by Mazda. The vehicle was a joint venture by Mazda and Ford, but, most of the vehicle was a Mazda.
 
Mazda American Credit is a division of Ford Motor Credit, and back in the 80's and 90's, Mazda did not have their own bank, that is why they used Ford's. At the time, Ford (or Primus I think) was one of the biggest in the world.
 
Mazda and Ford have been sharing technology for decades. Currently, Mazda is NOT owned by Ford. Ford has 33.4% interest in Mazda. Mazda still calls the shots with what they want to do. Think of the relationship as more of a partnership.
 
About the door latch problem, it is up to MNAO to decide whether it is a problem, not Mazda over in Japan or Ford. MNAO covers Canada, United States.
 
One considering a Mazda should not think they are all Fords. They just share technology. Actually, Ford currently has the best reputation out of any American car companies according to numerous sources, including CR.
#10 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [audia8q] by aviboy97
Mar 26, 2007 (8:06 am)
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Replying to: audia8q (Mar 26, 2007 8:02 am)

Very true. The partnership as worked well for both parties.
#11 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [aviboy97] by ex_tdier
Mar 26, 2007 (10:09 am)
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Replying to: aviboy97 (Mar 26, 2007 8:06 am)

I don't have the exact stats, but from another site, I read that Ford is the majority shareholder of Mazda. Therefore, without getting into semantics, Ford owns Mazda.
#12 of 25
Re: Ford Owning Mazda [ex_tdier] by socal2006
Mar 26, 2007 (11:04 am)
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Replying to: ex_tdier (Mar 26, 2007 10:09 am)

Like avi said, Ford owns about 1/3 of Mazda, which in Japan is not only the maximum that a foreign company can own, it also is considered a controlling interest.
 
While avi described the relationship as a partnership it's not quite a partnership, but rather a partnership of unequals. How does this work out in real life? It's hard to say because Ford has been kind to Mazda but here are some examples:
 
1. They build many cars on similar platforms. It seems that Ford is building most of its cars on what was originially the Mazda6 platform though. In contrast, the Mazda3 platform was developed jointly by Ford, Mazda, and Volvo.
2. Even though cars are built on similar platforms, they retain their own identity. For example, the 3, euro focus, and s40 are different in significant ways. The cx-7 and edge are also different.
3. Mazda was able to reintroduce the rotary, something that probably did not make the most fiscal sense. The rotary is just something distinctly Mazda. I wonder how much Mazda had to fight to have it built... I really don't know. Could Ford have stopped it's production if it wanted to?
4. Although Ford reports sales of Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover as part of its own sales, Mazda sales are reported separately. If one were to include Mazda sales into Ford sales, I believe Ford would still be comfortably ahead of Toyota worldwide (not sure about that).
 
If Ford owned Mazda outright, its relationship would be more similar to the relationship between Ford and Volvo. But, that's not really that much different to their relationship now. I think the big changes would be in sales reporting and perhaps the rx-8 never having come to fruition.
 
As for quality/reliability, its really hard to decipher. Generally, Ford has improved very recently, while Mazda has taken a hit in surveys while introducing many new models (almost the whole lineup).
#13 of 25
Definition of Hit [socal2006] by autonomous
Mar 26, 2007 (1:30 pm)
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Replying to: socal2006 (Mar 26, 2007 11:04 am)

Mazda has taken a hit in surveys while introducing many new models (almost the whole lineup)
Curious. Mazda has quite a few hits recently. The Mazdaspeed3 seems to be a huge success. The press on the Mazda5 also seemed positive. Did I miss something about the CX7 or CX9 which I thought were well received?

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