Ford = Mazda??

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » December 9th, 2006, 4:48 pm

D Power's 2006 Vehicle Dependability Study was based on responses from 47 620 original owners of 2003 vehicles. The top 10 marques for overall reliability were:
1. Lexus
2. Mercury (Ford)
3. Buick
4. Cadillac
5. Toyota
6. Acura
7. Honda
8. Jaguar (Ford)
9. BMW
10. Infiniti

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » December 9th, 2006, 5:20 pm

mx-3s were made in japan FYI

XxantwawnxX · Post by **XxantwawnxX** » December 9th, 2006, 7:37 pm

Just some info.....

Mazda is an automobile corporation currently producing about 800,000 vehicles per year. The company is based in Japan. Its vehicles are sold in Japan, Europe and North America. Originally started as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd in 1920 as a machine tools manufacturer, Mazda changed its focus to auto manufacturing in 1931 with the development of the Mazda Go, a three-wheeled truck. Even though every car sold by Mazda bared the Mazda name, the company did not officially change its name until 1984.

Ford bought a 25% stake in Mazda in 1979. When Mazda was having financial difficulties in 1996, Ford increased its ownership to 33%. Many Ford models have been based on Mazda designs and models. The Ford Probe was based upon the Mazda MX-6 and the Ford Escape was the sister vehicle to the Mazda Tribute. These are just a couple of the many chassis shared between the two companies. The two companies how share even more with each other in the form of vehicle platforms.

In the 1970's, Mazda was well known as a performance leader. Almost of their models were using the Wankel rotary power plants during this time. These engines outperformed the piston engines their competitors were using. Even though Mazda enjoyed much success with the performance of their models, low sales led to the first financial crisis where Ford bought its 25% stake in the company.

The large investment Ford made in Mazda helped the company become much more successful in the 1980's. During the early part of the decade, the Mazda 323 became the number one selling car in Japan. This is also the start of the contributions Mazda was to make to Ford vehicles. In 1989, Mazda released the best selling sports car of all time, the Miata. Even though many believe the Miata is an imitation of the Lotus Elan, the Miata has enjoyed great success.

The 1990's were another troubling decade similar to the 1980's. Sales of all models except for the Miata were dismal at best. An attempt in the late 1980's to improve its branding proved to be a very bad decision. Mazda saw how Nissan and Toyota were having good results with their Infiniti and Lexus brands. They too decided to try their luck at improved branding. The Amanti division was supposed to come to North America as their upgraded brand. At the last minute, the plan was put aside. Mazda did not fare much better with their upgraded brands in the rest of the world either. Other complaints at the time were the Mazda models of the decade were boring and uninspiring.

2002 turned out to be a great year for Mazda. The newly released models were a huge hit with the world. Vehicles such as the Mazda3, Mazda6 and the RX-8 helped bring out the perception change they were looking for in the late 1980's. In addition, the advertising campaign "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom" seemed to bring about change in the way people thought of Mazda. Even the new Miata, now called the MX-5 in North America, was received well after faltering sales from the last model.

94blaze1.6 · Post by **94blaze1.6** » December 9th, 2006, 9:32 pm

Custommx3 wrote:Did you know the Chevorlet cavalier is rebadged as a toyota cavalier in Japan?

http://www.japan-partner.com/Picture/To ... cture.html

Almost all major car companies work with each other in some shape, form, or fashon.

That is wild lol

BornSticky · Post by **BornSticky** » December 10th, 2006, 1:08 am

the main thing that i blame on ford is the brake calipers on our mx-3's came from ford escort gt's. Always sieze up........total crap.

XxantwawnxX · Post by **XxantwawnxX** » December 10th, 2006, 1:32 am

BornSticky wrote:the main thing that i blame on ford is the brake calipers on our mx-3's came from ford escort gt's. Always sieze up........total crap.

never ever had that happen to me, with both my gs's. guess i be lucky : PP

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » December 10th, 2006, 1:50 am

Kinda nice tho cause the front refurbed are only C$50 (After core) but the rears are expensive

Yoda · Post by **Yoda** » December 10th, 2006, 9:22 pm

BornSticky wrote:the main thing that i blame on ford is the brake calipers on our mx-3's came from ford escort gt's. Always sieze up........total crap.

Actually they came from the BG 323 which is the same platform both the MX-3 and EGT are built on. The 323 hit the market in 9/89 the MX-3 and EGT were almost 18months later. The original 22V13 and 22V14 casting were made by Mitsubishi. The rear calipers were also based on either the 323 or the 2gen RX-7. The BG 323 (MX-3 and EGT) calipers can be interchanged with the earlier BF 323 calipers it seems the only difference is the BG calipers work with a wider rotor.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » December 11th, 2006, 3:38 am

let's not forget the Pontiac Vibe = Toyota Matrix

Lookwuticando · Post by **Lookwuticando** » December 26th, 2006, 6:07 pm

Yeah, those 2 ARE the same, crazy...

I found out about the Ford/Mazda connection after I got this MX-3 also. It felt kinda like a gyp, cuz I was looking for that Japanese car longevity.
But nice to know they are still basically Japanese cars though.