anti spam = ford

Seems Ford did actually learn something from Mazda.

Btw, since when had the Ford Focus been a top seller in Australia eh?

Mazda have also clearly been clever enough to keep the core of Mazda safe from Ford accountants, which is why we still have cars like the RX8 – something that is completely alien to American tastes.

Having said all that, Ford also recognised and profited from the simple fact that Mazda are dam good at whatever they do and giving them the cash and access to some resources from Ford would be good for both.

That partnership has been good for both brands.

All that said, Mazda are clearly out of their troubles. They have reidentified what they are about and who they appeal to and produced the product that suits that market. Where they have identified Ford parts they could use and improve on to control costs they have. Where they had to engineer something and could get Ford to subsidise that development, they have. Where they needed to reengineer a component that was Ford sourced, so it works in a Mazda to the specifications Mazda has for its cars, they have done that also.

Case in point. My Mazda 6 MPS has Fomoco branded parts on it to be sure. But one drive of the car, tells you it is not a Ford product. It is much a Mazda in how it performs, drives and is built as any Mazda I had from the 90’s or 80’s.

Ford have profited greatly from their partnership from Mazda and thats good enough reason for them to want to continue it – especially now Ford is in the middle of its own crisis and struggling to remain viable.

If Mazda were to withdraw from any collaboration with Ford it would be a complete disaster for Ford. They are heavily dependent on Mazda engineering input for many of their mainstream products and to help offset costs for R&D on small and medium cars. Fortunately for both brands it simply makes no sense for them to do anything but continue to collaborate.

For all of that make no mistake. Mazda have got their independence back and have their own DNA in their cars, where it counts.

ZoomZoom, actually Ford DO own the platforms. But seeing as (at the time) Ford owned Mazda, Volvo & Jaguar it was not a problem to share. The part you are missing about the sell off of Mazda is that now Ford don’t have to foot the majority of the developement costs for Mazda’s platforms (these costs are split up by the expect units sold and Focus outsells 3 & S40 threefold). However, because they are still a major shareholder there will still be cross model sharing but Ford can actually charge more for the technology. The engines were the main point of interest for Ford from Mazda but they now have their own to use so even that will not be of concern. Mazda whilst doing well in Aust and Okay in the US (comparatively) is struggling globally and domestically so it was a good time for Ford to jump. Rather than wait to long as with Volvo.

So go hop in your Mazda3 with the knowledge that not only does it ride on a FORD platform but also FORD money and FORD engineering, like many models in the future will as well.

Cheers for those figures :)

Shows Ford OZ is doing well with local sales compared to Holden and Toyota.

Personally the reason I don’t have a new falcon, and i suspect a few people share my problem, is simply the resale value. I don’t earn enough to be able to buy a car every 4 – 5 years, knowing that when I go to sell it I’ll get bugger all for it, which leaves the only option of keeping it until it dies in 10 – 15 years, at which point who knows what petrol will be worth. I guess the only way to prop up resale values is to stop selling to fleets and creating oversupply, but then Ford won’t get the volume required to be profitable. If Ford could fast track the start of Focus production, that would allow them to downscale Falcon (and territory) production to stop the oversupply.

Also, in a declining market, sales of locally made cars weren’t actually that bad (Mazda 3 was just v good, Mazda 6 was a dissaster though _36%).
I was also just pointing out that some large cars (Falcon +30%, Commodore -4.7) fared well in a segment that droped 10% (compard to all passenger cars which dropped 18%), and that others did not (Camry V6/Aurion -48%).

But why did Ford invest into Mazda because they could see a winner out of this marker….no loyal Mazda owner denies that Ford helped out Mazda in the 90’s but over the last 10yrs Mazda has been quite nicely on its own. Can’t say much about Ford as selling some shares back to Mazda for some much needed cash tells you that the circle has gone around. As for the model sharing its nice to see that Mazda now holds the advantage as a better looking car and evidence shows that in Oz the Focus and Fiesta wont be a threat. With the all new 3 on its way Mazda will bend over backwards to keep its market share on song. The control of Mazda is now back into their on court with Ford still having a say but not as a share holder not a controlling interest. Look back to the 80/90 and if it wasn’t for Mazda Ford would have had nothing….no small car Laser, no commercials Trader, Courier, Econovan…..bottom line is that Mazda has come out of there problems and they are making fantastic cars and moving on with Ford lagging behind…

Zoom Zoom Zoom…….

Also, sales of locally made cars:
Ford: 2793, -8.1%
Holden: 3849, -13%
Toyota: 1799, -32.1%

With Camry 4cy -18% and Camry V6 (Aurion) -48% it would appear that much of the public have woken up to the Camry V6/Aurion scam.