Ford Motor Co. is now officially unrepresented in the board of Mazda Motor Corp. This came as the last Ford
appointee on Mazda's board, Thomas Pixton, left the Japanese carmaker
following its June 27 annual shareholders' meeting. Pixton’s exit from
Mazda signals the end of an era that is marked by Ford’s control of the
Japanese carmaker’s board. Ford first acquired a 25 percent stake in
Mazda in 1979, when the latter was struggling financially. Mazda’s
financial troubles once again paved the way for Ford to acquire
additional stakes and increase its ownership to 33.4 percent in 1996.
However, fiscal winds changed directions and headed to Ford in 2008,
forcing the carmaker to slowly divest its stake in Mazda to boost its
emptying coffers. In a span of two years, Ford saw its stake in Mazda
dwindle to 3.5 percent. In 2012, Ford sold another tranche of shares to
effectively reduce its stake in Mazda to 2.1 percent. During Ford’s
dominance in Mazda, the US carmaker was able to enthrone four of its
executives as successive presidents of its Japanese partner. However,
Ford’s control of Mazda as well as the number of board representatives
dwindled as its stake decreased.
Despite the end of its involvement in Mazda, Ford remains as a partner
in other ventures. Ford and Mazda still jointly own the AutoAlliance
International Inc assembly plant in Flat Rock, Mich.; Mazda, however,
decided in June to indefinitely suspend output of its vehicles at the
plant. Both carmakers are also involved in a three-way joint venture in
China with Chongqing Changan Automobile
Co.; but they are assessing ways to break the venture up so that Ford
and Mazda can have separate operations in China. Ford and Mazda also
jointly own the AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., assembly plant. The good
news is that, the carmakers said in April 2012 that they will invest
around $27 million to increase the plant's annual pickup capacity by
20,000 units to 195,000 units.
Source;
http://www.4wheelsnews.com/fords-last-appointee-thomas-pixton-leaves-mazdas-board/
No comments:
Post a Comment