It hasn’t been too long since Mazda Motor Company and Ford Motor Company split their partnership leaving the Japanese automaker on its own. Despite a wide variety of offerings, it would appear that the company is struggling to turn a profit and has been doing so for a while. When the fiscal year ends on March 31, 2012, Mazda believes it will see a net loss $1.29 billion or 100 billion yen. In order to try to stay afloat, the brand is now on the hunt for some help in the form of an alliance.
According to an Automotive News article, Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda’s CEO, said that they are “actively” seeking a partnership. At this point, there isn’t a set-in-stone candidate as both technology ventures and simple share selling are both on the table. “We are considering every option,” said Yamanouchi. A big factor in the loss is the increasing strength of the yen. Mazda exports vehicles out of Japan more than any other manufacture and thus, they’ve been hurting in sales for the past 11 years. They have made a recent attempt by breaking ground on a plant in Mexico for North American car production which should start-up in 2013. If Mazda works at it, they might be able to find an alliance, especially with the new Skyactiv engine technology. Yamanouchi made mention that he is willing to share the 40 plus mpg engine design if it means Mazda can live to see another day.
Source: AutomotiveNews.com
