Report: Ford Seeks To Sell Mazda Stake; Mazda States No Decision Yet

[blawrence73]

Originally Posted by steve333

This would be a huge mistake, and bad for both companies. As stated, Mazda offers Ford car platforms that have transformed their products into class leading or very competitive cars.
For Mazda it would be bad also because those who want a Japanese car but not feel bad about it went with a Mazda because they knew Ford would benefit.
Ford should keep both Mazda and Volvo, IMO.

I have to agree. I was working as a Ford service tech when a lot of Mazda technology was mixing in. Mazda's got a solid product and if you look at most of the technology in todays Ford products you can see a lot of Mazda influence.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by zabolots

Wow, they must really be panicking and in need of cash. They get a lot out of their cooperation with Mazda and it's likely the only thing of value that they have left to sell.

I'm quite concerned about the future of the domestic auto manufacturers.

I am too and I agree with this sentiment. Mulally always made it seem like selling their stake in Mazda was NOT on the table in any form. Selling off their stake must mean things are REALLY bad over in Dearborn.

I think this would be a huge mistake. Ford is becoming more and more integerated - thank GOD - but they still utilize the manufacturing methods and the expetise at Mazda. Spinning them off could really really hurt future platform developments, etc.

As for who would be interested in taking a stake, Honda comes to mind. Honda has continually said they want to be independent and NOT be merged with another company. But they have show they are interested in taking stakes out in other companies like what they did with Rover back in the day.

As a medium sized company, they certainly do not benefit from economies of scale like larger manufacturers do. They could possibly be interested in Mazda.

Same would hold true of Mitsubishi, Fiat, or a few other comapnies I can think of.

[FoMoCo Fan]

Yes, things are REALLY BAD for both Ford and GM right now. They literally face a situation where they could run out of cash in a few months.

Re: Mazda and all of these sales and mergers. Please keep in mind it's not about the product that's on sale right now. It's about the future. Ford selling Mazda has no impact in products already on sale or past the point of no return on the design side. (other than to give the company cash to get by a few more months - and that's ALL that a sale of Mazda is going to do for Ford).

By the way - to those people who criticized Ford selling Aston Martin and Jaguar earlier in the year - it looks like it was the right move now, doesn't it?

[camaro_freak]

shoudn't be on the table period. Why doesnt' Ford dump Merc or Lincoln instead... good grief.

If Ford does this, then they will have cut off their own leg.

[Stéphane Dumas]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

As for who would be interested in taking a stake, Honda comes to mind. Honda has continually said they want to be independent and NOT be merged with another company. But they have show they are interested in taking stakes out in other companies like what they did with Rover back in the day.

As a medium sized company, they certainly do not benefit from economies of scale like larger manufacturers do. They could possibly be interested in Mazda.

Same would hold true of Mitsubishi, Fiat, or a few other comapnies I can think of.

With the financial crisis going over to Europe and Asia, how long they might resist to the merger idea or to a latter extent a "alliance idea"? Christian Streiff, current CEO of Peugeot-Citroen, begin to think of an alliance similar to what Ghosn did with Renault-Nissan. On the other hand, could Honda step for buy a entire company while they still have lots of money?

I would had wished for Suzuki to get Mazda. Since Suzuki did an agreement with Mazda to have some Suzuki models rebadged as Mazdas, they may have more common points then we taught.

[2b2]

guess I'll post part of an-elsewhere comment...

if "small-Mercs" could equate to a globally-sold American'Mazda' for Fomoco?
&
maybe this something Mazda wants?

[Gm786]

WOW! Ford must be really stupid or something! Selling Mazda would be a REAL Mistake on Ford's part! Mazda has a big consumer base with young people and Ford is willing to drop all of that in the Trash Can? That's going to be a big mistake if they carry through with it. Maybe GM can buy Mazda from them? Just kidding. GM wouldn't do that but either way Ford is making a big mistake selling that division or at least their stake in them.

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by camaro_freak

Why doesnt' Ford dump Merc or Lincoln instead... good grief.

Because those brands are effectively worthless. Who is going to buy a US-Only brand with a crappy dealership network, no distinct identity, and no technology or engineering?

[RangeRover]

Originally Posted by vcs2600

Because those brands are effectively worthless. Who is going to buy a US-Only brand with a crappy dealership network, no distinct identity, and no technology or engineering?

Wow...I think saying that Merc and Lincoln have no technology or engineering is a stretch!

No distinct identity...maybe. Thankfully, that appears to be changing for Lincoln. Also, I would like to have lincoln/Mercury's dealership network than Mazda's. I think that is one of Mazda's weaknesses.

[RangeRover]

Originally Posted by steve333

The Fiesta is based on the Mazda 2 and the Euro Focus is based on a Volvo platform. Without the two of them, Ford will have to develop their own platforms and Mazda has more experience with small platforms than Ford, at least when it comes to good platforms.

The Fiesta SHARES the same platform as the Mazda2. Nothing else! This is a global platform and Europe is the lead for small car development.

The Euro Focus is based on another Global Ford platform. Once again...lead in Europe.

Ford has more then enough global resources to develop excellent small car platforms.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by camaro_freak

Why doesnt' Ford dump Merc or Lincoln instead... good grief.

Is that really a question? If so... "Because getting rid of Merc or Lincoln will not immediately bring $1+ billion to Ford's coffers".

[FBODYRULES]

that would be a massive mistake, surely they(ford) can see that?

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by RangeRover

Wow...I think saying that Merc and Lincoln have no technology or engineering is a stretch!

No distinct identity...maybe. Thankfully, that appears to be changing for Lincoln. Also, I would like to have lincoln/Mercury's dealership network than Mazda's. I think that is one of Mazda's weaknesses.

What I mean is they use Ford engines and Ford platforms. Unlike with Mazda, Lincoln-Mercury is nothing more than trademarks and dealerships. And those aren't particularly valuable.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by Stéphane Dumas

With the financial crisis going over to Europe and Asia, how long they might resist to the merger idea or to a latter extent a "alliance idea"? Christian Streiff, current CEO of Peugeot-Citroen, begin to think of an alliance similar to what Ghosn did with Renault-Nissan. On the other hand, could Honda step for buy a entire company while they still have lots of money?

I would had wished for Suzuki to get Mazda. Since Suzuki did an agreement with Mazda to have some Suzuki models rebadged as Mazdas, they may have more common points then we taught.

That's an interesting point too. If I were Honda, I may want to look at such a deal before money gets TOO tight. I've read that about Streiff and his idea of possibly doing something similar to what Ghosn has done. However, I wonder if and when this would happen. Many point to Ghosn's idea as a model for others to follow - while some have said that it limits potential savings. No one questions that it was the right move at the time, but now that both Nissan and Renault are struggling, one wonders if it was a short-term strategy that doesn't have the legs to succeed long term?

Who knows, but I'd be curious to see if PSA follows suit.

As for the Mazda/Suzuki comment, that would make an interesting pairing. However, I don't know if that is possible since Nissan already has an established partnership with Mazda. I think that a Mitsubishi/Mazda partnership would be interesting since both have products in similar segments. Or perhaps even more interesting would be Fiat and Mazda?

All interesting to speculate about -- but nothing is firm yet with FoMoCo selling their stake. And even if they did decide to sell, who knows if anyone could come up with the cash to buy it...?

[mgescuro]

This is a very bad move for Ford -- especially with the significant strides Mazda is going through right now with their new designs.
Ford can easily find themselves not being relevant in a shorter period of time.

The fact that Ford controls Mazda gives Ford the big foot in the door to the Japanese market -- something no other Big 3 car company has EVER been able to do. Pushing hard in the Japanese market would be enough to distract Toyota and Honda.

It's called "playing the game."