Find Reviews by Make:
Is Ford selling Mazda to GM? Although there's absolutely no indication it would ever happen, the United Press International seems to know something the rest of us don't. Their headline about the NAIAS Car/Truck of the Year Award proudly proclaims "GM wins car and truck prizes." Since we know the Mazda CX-9 won the truck award, it only stands that UPI has some insider information that the rest of us don't. Either that, or they need to hire some real automotive writers and quit letting their business writers write about things about which they have no clue. Just sayin'…
15 Comments on “Nonsensical Wild Ass Rumor of the Day: GM Buys Mazda...”
Read all comments
If such a bizarre thing did happen, I can see it now: A Mazda badged SUV based on the Trailblazer.
For the life of me, I can’t imagine Ford giving up its engineering department – unless of course they really wanted a “Way Forward” to chapter 11.
As for the picture caption, I would give them one product cycle until they rid Mazda of their ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM! and re-badge Chevy Colbalts as Mazda3’s.
I asked Dr. Spock about this and he shook his head and scolded me for bringing such illogical nonsense to him.
What percentage of Mazda does Ford own? I thought it was 25%? Or is it more now?
According to this PDF document, Ford owned 33.9% of Mazda in early 2007.
@ drifter: You ever driven a Cobalt and a Mazda3 back to back? Sorry but just “tarting up” a Cobalt still won’t put them in the same level of performance. The chassis on the Mazda3 is built off a superior platform with engineers who did not design it mainly for saving costs but to make it work great. Drive a Cobalt SS against a MazdaSpeed 3 and even with the Cobalt’s relatively lower total power it has terrible torque steer versus the Mazda3 where the chassis and other tuning helps mitigate it making it quite a great road carving instrument.
As for dumping the Miata for a Opel GT rebadged Pontiac…that’s just plain absurd. The Miata is a legend and the Solstice will likely be discontinued as their sales have been disappointing (even to the point Lutz admitted so – one of his brief periods of honesty).
Sorry but Mazda makes some great cars that are actually fun to drive. Even their SUVs have some of the best handling (sans the tippy navajo or the B series trucks – but those are just poorly rebadged Fords). Chevy makes some great rental cars but just don’t have it in them anymore to create a car as well designed and driving experience as a Mazda (sans Corvette).
If ford ever sold Mazda, it would mean Ford is Dead.
Not only is their 33% stake responsible for the best of their engineering department (Euro Focus, C40/V50 volvo, Fusion’s 6-speed, drivetrain, well, the whole bloody thing, their new crossovers, well, everything good save the mustang and trucks are Mazda DNA), its also a shockingly large amount of the money they make.
Somehow I doubt that this tongue-in-cheek item was posted to prompt a serious discussion about the viability of Ford selling its stake in Mazda. There is nothing to discuss.
I’m just surprised that the headline still hasn’t been corrected.
I’ve driven a couple of Mazda3s and I would agree that it is an over-rated car. The Mazda also has torque steer along with most other front-wheel drive cars although I will give Mazda credit that it isn’t as bad as some Nissan models. OK so it has a stiffer chassis but, I can think of a dozen other cars that are as good if not better in that price range. As far as GM buying Mazda…It should stay as that, A wild-ass rumor.
jaje,
The Opel GT is a rebadged Solstice, not the other way around ;-)
Does the Amish kid from “Witness” know you’re talking smack about his car? Zoomen Sie, zoomen Sie!
The Opel GT is a rebadged Solstice, not the other way around ;-)
Actually it’s almost literally a rebadged Saturn Sky. Same difference.
A Chevy Cobalt and a Mazda3 aren’t even on the same playing field. At least, three years ago when I was test driving cars in a search for my next car, the Cobalt was a joke. While I didn’t buy a Mazda3, it was more comfortable, more practical (storage, rear passenger seating), and more fun than a Chevy Cobalt. I don’t even know if it’s possible to “tart up” a Chevy Cobalt to the point that it could compete with a Mazdaspeed3 (test drove one last year for the fun of it).
Mazda3 (when compared to Japanese competition) is rough riding, loud, gas guzzling sub-compact which comes 17in V-rated tires that probably lasts half as much as the ones on Corolla/Civic/Sentra.
The mid-size Nissan Alitma delivers same/better mpg and more HP than a Mazda3s should speak volumes of Mazda’s engineering prowess (or the lack of).
I think it’s safe to say United Press International is the keeper of the drive-by journalism flame…