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Just wondering, does anyone know if the Ford Escape is Based off of the Mazda Tribute, or is the Tribute based off of the escape?

They are both based on each other, they were built at the same time using the same parts cept for the body panels which were customized to suit the brand. If you really wanna get technical you would consider the platform ford's baby cause they needed a small SUV and mazda has never even cared about having an SUV. 10 years ago it was the same way with the 2 Door explorer and the lame mazda navajo.

Im just curious cause my parents bough a Ford Escape a few months ago and i drove it a few time, and the layout of the controls is so Mazda-ish, there as no need to adjust, everything was where it was in my Mx-3 or my Parents 626...just kinda freaky

i think it was designed in the mazda european operations with some help from ford (for drivetrain choices). They were both basically introduced at the same time. The tribute might have been a couple months earlier.

the escape and the tribute came off the same production line mazda is a ford product..

thx ven

Mazda is NOT a ford product.
Mazda is a Mazda product.
Ford has a 33% share in mazda.

hmmm, I heard 51% (making Ford the majority share-holder), does anyone know for sure?

Originally posted by killerpickle:
Mazda is NOT a ford product.
Mazda is a Mazda product.
Ford has a 33% share in mazda.

Hmmmm....lets go to Fords web site.

this is how i see it, my car is all mazda and is not aford product :p

looool.....no. Mazda is Ford's stepchild. Ford owns 33% of Mazda.

Heres a quick background..

Because mazda was in some financial trouble ford helped it out in increasing its investment in mazda. Ford asked mazda to produce gears for ford vehicles so mazda can get back on their feet.

Mazda SUV or i should say any car mazda makes , thats not a sports car, bears the mark of ford in one way or another. But for sports cars, mazda is unique....The most popular 2 door sports car in the WORLD is the miata..hands down.......but when you say things that mazda is a mazda product.....i'm pretty sure stepchild HAS to tell Stepdad(ford) what they're up to..


Same thing with Susuki and General Motors.

well, and the RX7 and RX8. mazda had to deal with ford when wanting to produce the RX8. It was a legacy Mazda made work, the Rotary engine. and they did!!! and they are 100% Mazda. As I believe my MX3 to be.
and yeah, mazda has intricate dealings with ford, that's why the RX8 took so long.

the miata has become a ford product....

look at a jaguar XK then look at a miata they look very similar just the miata is a small version of the jag.