Is Mazda considered an American company or is it still Foriegn?

[xEDIT409]

Me and my friend were having a dispute over this.

 

[Adul]

Ford is the parent company.

Take that as you will.

 

[Pepsi90919]

i don't think it's either, it just kind of floats.

 

[Shantanu]

Mazda is a Japanese company that is 33% owned by Ford. It would be impossible for any outsider to own a majority stake in any Japanese auto major because the Japanese government forbids it.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Shantanu
Mazda is a Japanese company that is 33% owned by Ford. It would be impossible for any outsider to own a majority stake in any Japanese auto major because the Japanese government forbids it.

Exactly. I consider Mazda a Japanese company. I also consider Nissan a Japanese company even though a controlling interest is owned by Renault, which is based in France.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Ford is the parent company but Mazda retains a great deal of autonomy over them. Except for the Tribute and B-series, I believe everything is Japanese designed, or co-designed anyway. (The Futura iirc is going to be based off the Mazda 6 platform, totally designed by Mazda)

 

[johneetrash]

(in general) where's the head office?
that's your answer

nissan isnt considered a french brand, some vws are made in mexico and they're not mexican, some hondas are made in the US and they're not american... some fords are made in europe but they're not considered european

 

[xEDIT409]

Thanks for the help guys! Looks like I win!

 

[Spac3d]

Originally posted by: xEDIT409
Thanks for the help guys! Looks like I win!

:beer:

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: Shantanu
Mazda is a Japanese company that is 33% owned by Ford. It would be impossible for any outsider to own a majority stake in any Japanese auto major because the Japanese government forbids it.

I can't verify the part about the Japanese government, but yes Ford owns a 33% controlling interest in Mazda. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how much power Mazda execs still have regarding their future product lines.

With that said, Mazda's base of operations is still Heroshima, Japan with their R&D facilities developing the newest RX-8, Mazda6 (Atenza), and Mazda3 (Axela) in house in Japan. The Mazda3 and 6 are/will be assembled in the United States (Flat Rock, MI, I believe), like the current Camry, Accord, Altima, etc. Its simply cheaper this way.

For such a low volume company (relative to the Big 3 and Toyota, Honda, Nissan), I'm amazed how much faith Ford has in Mazda's chassis engineering group. The Mazda3 and 6 will spawn numerous high volume vehicles under Ford's global product line.


Edit: Good grief, I type slowly. Like 10 other people replied before me. :frown:

 

[fyleow]

Originally posted by: johneetrash
(in general) where's the head office?
that's your answer

nissan isnt considered a french brand, some vws are made in mexico and they're not mexican, some hondas are made in the US and they're not american... some fords are made in europe but they're not considered european

That's a bad analogy. The controlling company for VW is VW itself and that's in Germany. Honda is owned by Honda and that is in Japan. Ford is owned by Ford and that is in American etc...

Nissan is majority owned by Renault, a french company.

But then again I consider Lamborghini an Italian company and they are owned by VW

 

[johneetrash]

Originally posted by: fyleow

Originally posted by: johneetrash
(in general) where's the head office?
that's your answer

nissan isnt considered a french brand, some vws are made in mexico and they're not mexican, some hondas are made in the US and they're not american... some fords are made in europe but they're not considered european

That's a bad analogy. The controlling company for VW is VW itself and that's in Germany. Honda is owned by Honda and that is in Japan. Ford is owned by Ford and that is in American etc...

Nissan is majority owned by Renault, a french company.

But then again I consider Lamborghini an Italian company and they are owned by VW

yah it was a bad analogy after i posted about it, but i was too lazy to edit everything past the nissan/renault thing, just ignore

VAG owns a bunch of car companies, but the way i understand it, they dont tell them what to build and what not, and although they share some technologies/parts, they still do their own R&D and whatnot. so even though audi is owned by vw, they're not the same company, like how honda/acura//toyota/lexus are

 

[LeeTJ]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: Shantanu
Mazda is a Japanese company that is 33% owned by Ford. It would be impossible for any outsider to own a majority stake in any Japanese auto major because the Japanese government forbids it.

I can't verify the part about the Japanese government, but yes Ford owns a 33% controlling interest in Mazda. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how much power Mazda execs still have regarding their future product lines.

With that said, Mazda's base of operations is still Heroshima, Japan with their R&D facilities developing the newest RX-8, Mazda6 (Atenza), and Mazda3 (Axela) in house in Japan. The Mazda3 and 6 are/will be assembled in the United States (Flat Rock, MI, I believe), like the current Camry, Accord, Altima, etc. Its simply cheaper this way.

For such a low volume company (relative to the Big 3 and Toyota, Honda, Nissan), I'm amazed how much faith Ford has in Mazda's chassis engineering group. The Mazda3 and 6 will spawn numerous high volume vehicles under Ford's global product line.


Edit: Good grief, I type slowly. Like 10 other people replied before me. :frown:

actually, Mazda Engineering has ALWAYS been SUPERIOR. their marketing on the other hand hasn't been so good.

back in the '70's when Honda was a struggling auto manufacturer, i felt that Mazda was the better of the two companies. even now, mazda's engineering is as good as anyone else, they just don't have to money to keep up with Toyota and Honda's development cycles.