Ford has announced today that it plans to reduce it’s 11% stake in Mazda to 3.5% effective November 19th aka tomorrow.
It’s an interesting move. On the one hand, in this economy, downsizing is probably the safest way to go. GM was forced to do it and Ford has done so by getting selling of Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and killing off Mercury. Mazda is really the only brand it has any stake in now (besides Lincoln).
On the other hand, Mazda is on a roll and has been for the past few years. Keeping a higher stake in a brand that is surely to continue to do well in the future may not be a bad idea. Perhaps that’s why Ford decided not to sell the entire stake. 3.5% in the grand scheme of things, is still pretty significant afterall. As a result, Ford says the two companies will continue to share ideas and technologies.
[Mazda, Ford Photo Credit: Autoblog]