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118-504: Sha-Mail development was led by Keiji Takao, who previously worked for Mazda . Takao came up with the idea on a sight-seeing trip to Hakone with his parents, where he saw a woman on a cable car using her mobile phone, apparently struggling to operate the device and unable to send a photo of the view. He recalled: "Here she was, a lady furiously typing into her handset and trying to relay her feelings and excitement to her children or husband. I said to myself, 'Gee, wouldn't it be easier if there

236-820: A hybrid version of its Premacy compact minivan using a version of its signature rotary engine that can run on hydrogen or gasoline named the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid . Despite plans to release it in 2008, as of 2010 the vehicle is in limited trials. In 2010, Toyota and Mazda announced a supply agreement for the hybrid technology used in Toyota's Prius model. Mazda is finding uses for biomaterials in its vehicles, including both plastics and fabrics made from corn starch, as it aims to become more environmentally-friendly. Mazda introduced some of these innovations (bioplastic internal consoles and bio-fabric seats) in its Mazda5 model at EcoInnovasia 2008, at

354-596: A "vote of confidence" because of the pro-business climate being fostered in part by President-elect Donald Trump , Ford had canceled plans to invest $ 1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico to manufacture the Ford Focus ; instead, the company would invest $ 700 million in Michigan , which it planned to use to create 700 new jobs. The Focus would now be manufactured in the existing plant in Mexico. Also in 2017, Ford began development of

472-503: A $ 2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company's first full-year profit in four years. In 2012, Ford's corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements. On October 29, 2012, Ford announced the sale of its climate control components business, its last remaining automotive components operation, to Detroit Thermal Systems LLC for an undisclosed price. On November 1, 2012, Ford announced that CEO Alan Mulally would stay with

590-663: A 32% stake in China's Jiangling Motors . The Henry Ford Company was Henry Ford's first attempt at a car manufacturing company and was established on November 3, 1901. This became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902, after Ford left with the rights to his name. In 1903, the Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory, with $ 28,000, equivalent to $ 950,000 in 2023, in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge , who later founded

708-449: A 33.4-percent controlling interest in May 1996. In June 1996, Henry Wallace was appointed president, and he set about restructuring Mazda and setting it on a new strategic direction. He laid out a new direction for the brand including the design of the present Mazda marque; he laid out a new product plan to achieve synergies with Ford, and he launched Mazda's digital innovation program to speed up

826-484: A MazdaSpeed5), and other venues. Wankel engines have been banned for some time from international Formula One racing, as well as from United States midget racing , after Gene Angelillo won the North East Midget Racing Association championship in 1985 with a car powered by a 13B engine, and again in 1986 in a car powered by a 12A engine. The Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda

944-588: A decade of class wins from other Mazda prototypes, including the 757 and 767 . The Sigma MC74 powered by a Mazda 12A engine was the first engine and team from outside Western Europe or the United States to finish the entire 24 hours of the Le Mans race, in 1974. Mazda is also the most reliable finisher at Le Mans (with the exception of Honda , which has entered only three cars in only one year), with 67% of entries finishing. Mazda returned to prototype racing in 2005 with

1062-402: A decade the company led the world in the expansion and refinement of the assembly line concept, and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house, via vertical integration . Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which became one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. It has been in continuous family control for over 100 years, and is one of

1180-893: A driver that killed two men while using BlueCruise. In November 2024, Ford announced that it would cut 800 jobs in the UK and 2,900 in Germany to try and reduce costs. The key trends for the Ford Motor Company are (as of the financial year ending December 31): Members of the Ford board as of March 2023 are: William Clay Ford Jr. (executive chairman), Jim Farley (president and CEO), Kimberly Casiano , Alexandra Ford English (daughter of William Clay Ford Jr.), Henry Ford III (son of Edsel Ford II ), William W. Helman IV, Jon Huntsman Jr. , William E. Kennard , John C. May, Beth E. Mooney , John L. Thornton , John Veihmeyer , Lynn Vojvodich Radakovich, and John S. Weinberg. Jim Farley succeeded Jim Hackett as

1298-455: A hybrid drivetrain for even greater fuel economy. In the racing world, Mazda has had substantial success with both its signature Wankel-engine cars (in two-rotor, three-rotor, and four-rotor forms) as well as its piston-engine models. Mazda vehicles and engines compete in a wide variety of disciplines and series around the world. In 1991, Mazda became the first Japanese automaker to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall. Mazda's competition debut

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1416-437: A hybrid drivetrain. Engine output is increased and emission levels are reduced. These technologies include high compression ratio gasoline engines (13.0 to 1), reduced compression diesel engines (14.0 to 1) with new 2-stage turbocharger design, highly efficient automatic transmissions, lighter weight manual transmissions, lightweight body designs and electric power steering . It is also possible to combine these technologies with

1534-480: A joint venture with Ford New Zealand known as Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand (VANZ), while in South Africa, Ford's local subsidiary merged with Sigma Motor Corporation , which already assembled Mazdas in the country, to form Samcor , although the sharing of models proved unpopular with both Ford and Mazda customers. In other markets such as Australia, however, the 323 and 626 were always fully imported, with only

1652-430: A long history of motorsport involvement, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with the rotary-powered Mazda 787B . In the past and present, Mazda has been engaged in alliances with other automakers. From 1974 until the late 2000s, Ford was a major shareholder of Mazda. Other partnerships include Toyota , Nissan , Isuzu , Suzuki and Kia . In 2023, it produced 1.1 million vehicles globally. The name Mazda

1770-474: A new mixed-use urban campus in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit , with its purchase, renovation, and occupation of The Factory at Michigan and Rosa Parks. The new site was expected to have a major focus on the development of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle technology. Ford later began buying up other parcels of land in Corktown including a very high-profile purchase of Michigan Central Station which

1888-518: A number of different brands in the Japanese (and occasionally Australian) markets in the 1990s, including Autozam , Eunos , and ɛ̃fini . The motivation was brought on by market competition from other Japanese automakers efforts in offering vehicles at multiple Japanese dealership networks offered by Toyota , Nissan , and Honda . Mazda's implementation of brand diversification reflected a Japanese engineering philosophy, called Kansei engineering , which

2006-443: A plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the plan, named The Way Forward , at the board meeting of the company on December 7, 2005, and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. "The Way Forward" included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs. Ford moved to introduce

2124-418: A plurality of the voting power. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines . By 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism . Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover , acquired in 1989 and 2000, respectively, were sold to

2242-498: A range of new vehicles, including " Crossover SUVs " built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chassis. In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, the company licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies in order to avoid patent infringements. Ford announced that it would team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine

2360-440: A result of high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce , soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an overdependence on declining SUV sales. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low-interest financing) to offset declining demand. In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop

2478-487: A self-driving car startup. In May 2017, Ford announced cuts to its global workforce amid efforts to address the company's declining share price and to improve profits. The company is targeting $ 3 billion in cost reduction and a nearly 10% reduction in the salaried workforce in Asia and North America to enhance earnings in 2018. Jim Hackett was announced to replace Mark Fields as CEO of Ford Motor. Mr. Hackett most recently oversaw

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2596-628: A similar service with Sharp called i-shot and another named Foma, KDDI's au introduced "Photo Mail" and "Movie Mail" services, and KDDI subsidiary TU-KA introduced "Picture Mail." In the US, AT&T (a NTT Docomo affiliate) launched the mMode Pix feature on Sony Ericsson T68i devices. Sha-Mail's popularity also spawned tie-ins such as a magazine called "J-Phone Sha-mail Hearts" and the TV Aichi series Syamekke , which encouraged users to send in photos and text messages relating to weekly topics, later to be broadcast on

2714-456: A standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash. Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and, in the same year, offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car. In late 1955, Ford established the Continental division as a separate luxury car division. This division

2832-502: A symbol of the beginning of the East and the West civilization, but also a symbol of the automotive civilization and culture." The company's website further notes that the name also derives from the name of the company's founder, Jujiro Matsuda . The alternative proposed names mean "god" ( Sumera ) and "angel" ( Tenshi ); both indicate Matsuda's strong interest in human faith. The Mazda lettering

2950-491: A ten-year building project. The result would see the number of Ford employees working in these areas doubling, to 24,000. During construction, some 2000 of the employees were relocated out of the campus to a temporary location in a disused section of the local shopping mall. Facilities would also be altered to allow ride-sharing and electric and self-driving vehicles. Estimates of the construction cost were $ 1.2 billion. On January 3, 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that in

3068-413: Is 129 km/h (80 mph). BlueCruise uses sensors and cameras to regulate the car's speed and to keep track of speed limits and road signs. It also monitors and keeps a safe distance from other vehicles. It also comes equipped with an eye-tracking system. If the driver stops looking at the road then the car will gradually reduce its speed. This technology will initially be offered in Ford's 2023 model of

3186-598: Is Mazda's biggest market, followed by China and Japan. Mazda's market share in the U.S. fell to a 10-year low of 1.7 percent in 2016. Mazda's brand loyalty was 39 percent in 2016, below the industry average of 53 percent. On October 24, 2022, Mazda decided to get rid of assets in Russia, with the company transferring a stake in a joint venture in Vladivostok to Sollers JSC for 1 euro. Mazda has conducted research in hydrogen-powered vehicles for several decades. Mazda has developed

3304-759: Is a North American open wheel racing series. It is the top level of the MAZDASPEED ladder, a driver development program which rewards season winners of one level with automatic rides at the next level. Since 2006, the Atlantic Championship has been run exclusively with Swift 016.a chassis powered by Mazda- Cosworth MZR 2300 cc (2.3L) DOHC inline-4 engines producing 300 bhp (224 kW). The cars are capable of speeds in excess of 175 mph (282 km/h). Formula Mazda features open wheel race cars with Mazda engines, adaptable to both oval tracks and road courses, on several levels of competition. Since 1991,

3422-530: Is a driver safety program aimed at teens that were developed together with the Governors Highway Safety Association and safety experts. The Ford Volunteer Corps allows Ford employees and retirees to sign up for volunteering work on local projects in more than 40 countries. The organization invests $ 18 million annually in education in the United States and around the world, but accepts applications only from nonprofit organizations registered in

3540-584: Is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan , United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln brand. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family . They have minority ownership but

3658-611: Is not an option". Ford and the United Auto Workers , representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to shift

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3776-507: Is planned to become the hub of their Corktown campus, and the adjacent Roosevelt Warehouse . Ford expects to move 2,500 of its employees, roughly 5 percent of its southeast Michigan workforce, to the campus with space for an additional 2,500 entrepreneurs, technology companies and partners. Bill Ford envisioned the first-floor concourse of the train station to be a public gathering place with retail outlets and restaurants. In February 2017, Ford Motor Co. acquired majority ownership of Argo AI ,

3894-432: Is to be rebranded as Ford Pro, to focus on vehicle distribution and service. In August 2022, Ford announced it planned layoffs of roughly 3,000 employees and contract workers, confirming earlier reporting. The cuts would mostly affect divisions in the US, Canada, and India, which Jim Farley said would allow the company to prepare for the future of electric, software-heavy vehicles. In February 2023, Ford announced that it

4012-520: The 24 Hours of Daytona , and drove the car back to New Jersey. The Cosmo placed 18th overall in a field of 72. The only modifications were racing brake pads, exhaust, and safety equipment. After substantial successes by the Mazda RX-2 and Mazda RX-3 , the Mazda RX-7 has won more IMSA races in its class than any other model of automobile, with its hundredth victory on September 2, 1990. Following that,

4130-673: The Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company . The first president was not Ford, but local banker John S. Gray , who was chosen in order to assuage investors' fears that Ford would leave the new company the way he had left its predecessor. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later at its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit , Michigan . Groups of two or three men worked on each car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Within

4248-525: The Ford Foundation ), based in Dearborn, Michigan, is the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company. Established in 1949 by Henry Ford II , the organization is a nonprofit corporate foundation financed by contributions from Ford Motor Company. In 2017, it contributed $ 63 million to various causes with a focus on education, driving safely and community building. The Ford Driving Skills for Life program

4366-718: The Ford Transit and later the Ford Escort and the Ford Capri became common to both companies. In 1970, the Ford Taunus and the Ford Cortina came into production with a common base construction, both models being produced in left hand drive and right hand drive . Later on, the models became identical and the respective models right- and left-hand-drive exclusively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in

4484-608: The Mazda 121 sold in Europe and South Africa was, for a time, a variant of the Ford Fiesta built in plants in Europe and South Africa. Mazda also made an effort in the past to sell some of Ford's cars in Japan, mainly through its Autorama dealer group. Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer , which Mazda sold as the 2-door only Mazda Navajo from 1991 through 1994. However, Mazda's version

4602-645: The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok . Up to 30% of the interior parts in the Mazda5 are made of biomaterial components. SkyActiv technology is an umbrella name for a range of technologies used in certain new Mazda vehicles. These vehicles include the Mazda2/Demio , Mazda3/Axela , Mazda6/Atenza , and CX-5 . Together these technologies increase fuel economy to a level similar to

4720-466: The RX-3 and RX-4 lines for certain markets). After nine years of development, Mazda finally launched its new model in the U.S. in 1970. Mazda's rotary success continued until the onset of the 1973 oil crisis . As American buyers (as well as those in other nations) quickly turned to vehicles with better fuel efficiency, the relatively thirsty rotary-powered models began to fall out of favor. Combined with being

4838-560: The Transit van continued at the company's Southampton facility until mid-2013, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham , and transmissions at Halewood . Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although

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4956-592: The Xedos name was also associated with the Mazda Xedos 6 , the two models were in production from 1992 until 1997. The Xedos line was marketed under the Mazda brand, and used the Mazda badge from the corresponding years. This diversification stressed the product development groups at Mazda past its limits. Instead of having a half-dozen variations on any given platform , developers were asked to work on dozens of different models at

5074-812: The industrialization of that country and consequently the Soviet war effort during World War II . To that end, in 1944, Stalin wrote a letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stating that Henry Ford was "one of the world's greatest industrialists". During World War II, the United States Department of War picked Ford to mass-produce the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber at its Willow Run assembly plant. Ford Werke and Ford SAF , Ford's subsidiaries in Germany and France, respectively, produced military vehicles and other equipment for Nazi Germany 's war effort . Some of Ford's operations in Germany at

5192-588: The 1960s, Mazda was inspired by the NSU Ro 80 and decided to put a major engineering effort into development of the Wankel rotary engine as a way of differentiating itself from other Japanese auto companies. The company formed a business relationship with German company NSU and began with the limited-production Cosmo Sport of 1967, and continuing to the present day with the Pro Mazda Championship , Mazda has become

5310-491: The 1960s. Starting in 1979 by expanding their 7 percent financial stake to 24.5%, Ford expanded an existing partnership with Mazda, resulting in various joint projects. The cooperation had begun in 1971 when the Mazda B-Series spawned a Ford Courier variant for North America, a version which was later offered in other markets as well. Mazda's Bongo and Titan cab-over trucks were sold with Ford badging in mainly Asia and

5428-644: The 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long-wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk. Another joint venture plant near Setúbal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen , formerly assembled the Galaxy people-carrier as well as its sister ships,

5546-761: The 1980s, Ford-badged Mazda products replaced much of their own European-sourced lineup, especially in the Asia-Pacific markets, with the Laser replacing the Escort and the Telstar replacing the Cortina . In some cases, such as New Zealand and South Africa , these were assembled alongside their Mazda-badged equivalents, the Mazda 323 (Familia) and 626 (Capella). Following the closure of its own assembly plant in New Zealand, Mazda established

5664-550: The 84 hour Nürburgring race with four Familias. Only one of these finished, taking fifth place. The first racing victory by a Wankel-engined car in the United States was in 1973, when Pat Bedard won an IMSA RS race at Lime Rock Park in a Mazda RX-2 . In 1976, Ray Walle, owner of Z&W Mazda, drove a Cosmo ( Mazda RX-5 ) from the dealership in Princeton, New Jersey, to Daytona, won the Touring Class Under 2.5 Liters at

5782-692: The American market ( Mazda North American Operations ) and was very successful there, going so far as to create the Mazda Rotary Pickup (based on the conventional piston-powered B-Series model) solely for North American buyers. To this day, Mazda remains the only automaker to have produced a Wankel-powered pickup truck. Additionally, it is also the only brand to have ever offered a rotary-powered bus (the Mazda Parkway, offered only in Japan) or station wagon (within

5900-528: The Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors , Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic . On March 24, representatives of Ford announced that production in the US, Canada, and Mexico would not resume on March 30 as originally planned, amid

6018-574: The Ford Fund announced its official name has changed to Ford Philanthropy. Ford has had manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa. Ford also helped the Soviet Union to construct Russian automaker GAZ . In May 2010, Ford reported that its sales increased 23% for

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6136-787: The Indian automaker Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010. In the third quarter of 2010, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed upscale cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker, behind General Motors , and the sixth-largest in the world , behind Toyota , Volkswagen Group , Hyundai Motor Group , Stellantis , and General Motors, based on 2022 vehicle production. At

6254-573: The Laser and Telstar assembled locally. In Japan, the Laser and Telstar were also sold alongside their Mazda-badged brethren, but the Festiva was not sold as a Mazda 121 on the Japanese market. In North America, the Probe was built in a new Mazda company plant in Flat Rock, Michigan , along with the mainstream 626 sedan and a companion Mazda MX-6 sports coupe. Ford also lent Mazda some of its capacity when needed:

6372-660: The Mercury in 1939 as a higher-priced companion car to Ford. Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. In 1929, Ford was contracted by the government of the Soviet Union to set up the Gorky Automobile Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs, thereby playing an important role in

6490-481: The Models A , B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year. In 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T , which totaled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A , the first car with safety glass in the windshield. Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors' mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick, Ford created

6608-424: The Mustang, due to declining demand and profitability. The Focus Active, a crossover SUV based on the newly unveiled fourth-generation Focus, was also intended to be marketed in the United States. Due to the vehicle being manufactured in China, Ford later announced that it would not release the Focus Active in the United States, due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese exports . In March 2020,

6726-464: The Pacific region beginning in 1976. These included large and small efforts in all areas of the automotive landscape, most notably in the realm of pickup trucks and smaller cars. Mazda began supplying manual transaxles to Ford in the spring of 1980. Mazda's Familia platform was used for Ford models like the Laser and Escort beginning in 1980, while the Capella architecture found its way into Ford's Telstar sedan and Probe sports models. During

6844-414: The RX-7 won its class in the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona race ten years in a row, starting in 1982. The RX-7 won the IMSA Grand Touring Under Two Liter (GTU) championship each year from 1980 through 1987, inclusive. In 1991, a four-rotor Mazda 787B (2622 cc actual, rated by FIA formula at 4708 cc) won the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race outright. The 787B's triumph remains unparalleled, as it remains

6962-534: The Sha-Mail service in November 2000 with the help of electronics company Sharp Corporation , who developed the J-SH04 phone with a built-in, back-facing CCD camera. The J-SH04 was among the first phones in the world with a fully-integrated camera, and at the time, Sha-Mail was Japan's only service of its kind. The service was quite successful on the market, particularly with young people. J-Phone had sold around 3 million handsets with Sha-Mail enabled by January 2022. Almost three years later, 10 million users were on

7080-473: The U.S. Education programs and scholarships include Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship, Ford Blue Oval Scholars Program, Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3), Ford Driving Dreams Tour, Ford Fund/Detroit Free Press Journalism Scholarship, Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL), Grants to Individuals Program, HBCU Community Challenge, Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassadors Program, and William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship. On April 29, 2024,

7198-441: The UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames, the "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship". In February 2002, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in 90 years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of

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7316-467: The alliance between Ford and Mazda has been a very successful one, with Mazda saving perhaps $ 90 million a year in development costs and Ford "several times" that, and that a sale of its stake in Mazda would be a desperate measure. On November 18, 2008, Ford announced that it would sell a 20% stake in Mazda, reducing its stake to 13.4%, thus surrendering control of the company, which it held since 1996. The following day, Mazda announced that, as part of

7434-438: The beginning bore that name. The Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda Carol in 1962 and were sold at a specific retail dealership that sold passenger cars called "Mazda Auto Store" whereas commercial products were sold at "Mazda Store". As Mazda continued to offer passenger cars like the Savanna , Familia , Luce , Cosmo and Capella , they were added to the "Mazda Auto Store" network only. Beginning in

7552-440: The burden of retiree health care from the company's books, thereby improving its balance sheet. This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010. As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at US$ 5.5 billion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$ 500 million of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gave hourly workers

7670-440: The chief executive officer of the company in August 2020; he previously served as Ford's chief operating officer. Hackett stayed in the company as an advisor until the second quarter of 2021. Ford is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own around 60% of shares. The largest shareholders in December 2023 were: The Ford Philanthropy, formerly known as the Ford Motor Company Fund (also known as Ford Fund, not affiliated with

7788-435: The company had not totally turned its back on piston engines, as it continued to produce a variety of four-cylinder models throughout the 1970s. The smaller Familia line in particular became very important to Mazda's worldwide sales after 1973, as did the somewhat larger Capella series. Mazda refocused its efforts and made the rotary engine a choice for the sporting motorist rather than a mainstream powerplant. Starting with

7906-421: The company until 2014. Ford also named Mark Fields, its president of operations in the Americas, as its new chief operating officer Mulally was paid a compensation of over $ 174 million in his previous seven years at Ford since 2006. The generous amount has been a sore point for some workers of the company. In April 2016, Ford announced a plan to modernize its Dearborn engineering and headquarters campuses through

8024-400: The company; at the beginning the vaccination program would be in southeast Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, but it was to be expanded later on to other locations. In March 2022, Ford announced that it would restructure the company into three separate divisions. Ford Model E is to focus on electric vehicles; Ford Blue is to focus on internal combustion vehicles; and the existing commercial division

8142-532: The concept of the small sports car after its decline in the late 1970s. From 1974 to 2015, Mazda had a partnership with the Ford Motor Company , which acquired a 24.5% stake in 1979, upped to a 33.4% ownership of Mazda in May 1995. Under the administration of Alan Mulally , Ford gradually divested its stake in Mazda from 2008 to 2015, with Ford holding 2.1% of Mazda stock as of 2014 and severing most production as well as development ties. This partnership with Ford began owing to Mazda's financial difficulties during

8260-642: The cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent of the sum insured for five years, in addition to annual payments of 5 percent. That meant $ 6.8 million paid upfront to insure $ 10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $ 500,000 per year. In January 2009, Ford reported a $ 14.6 billion loss in the preceding year, a record for the company. The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations. Through April 2009, Ford's strategy of debt-for-equity exchanges erased $ 9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total) in order to leverage its cash position. These actions yielded Ford

8378-479: The deal, it was buying back 6.8% of its shares from Ford for about US$ 185 million while the rest would be acquired by business partners of the company. It was also reported that Hisakazu Imaki would be stepping down as chief executive, to be replaced by Takashi Yamanouchi . On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced its stake further to 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

8496-581: The development of new products. At the same time, he started taking control of overseas distributors, rationalized dealerships and manufacturing facilities, and driving much-needed efficiencies and cost reductions in Mazda's operations. Much of his early work put Mazda back into profitability and laid the foundations for future success. Wallace was succeeded by James Miller in November 1997, followed in December 1999 by Ford executive Mark Fields , who has been credited with expanding Mazda's new product lineup and leading

8614-455: The electric Mustang Mach-E SUV. According to Thatcham Research, an automotive research company, this model is not a self-driving car. It is classified as a level 2 or partial automation assistance system. This means that technology controls two or more driving aspects but still requires human driver control in cases of emergencies. The driver is still legally responsible for accidents. In August 2024 Pennsylvania State Police filed charges against

8732-435: The end of 2010, Ford was the fifth-largest automaker in Europe. The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares , retain 40 percent of the voting rights. During the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis , the company struggled financially but did not have to be rescued by the federal government, unlike the other two major US automakers. Ford Motors has since returned to profitability, and

8850-544: The first Miller cycle engine for automotive use in the Millenia luxury sedan of 1995. Though the Millenia (and its Miller-type V6 engine) were discontinued in 2002, the company introduced a much smaller Miller-cycle four-cylinder engine for use in its Demio in 2008. Further financial difficulties at Mazda during the 1990s ( partly caused by losses related to the 1997 Asian financial crisis ) caused Ford to increase its stake to

8968-471: The formation of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, self-driving ventures and other programs aimed at helping Ford better compete with Uber , Alphabet Inc. and other tech giants looking to edge in on the auto industry. On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it would discontinue passenger cars in the North American market in the next four years, except for

9086-436: The further coronavirus pandemic spread. In the first quarter of 2020, Ford's sales dropped by 15%, entailing the loss of $ 2 billion. With the change in the demand for the sport vehicles, on January 6, 2021, Ford reported a sales fall of 9.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 542,749 vehicles, compared to 601,862 in 2019. In April 2021, Ford said that it would provide COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, who were to obtain them at

9204-551: The future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford is to convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE is to evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles are to be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford. William Clay Ford Jr. , great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nickname "Bill"),

9322-434: The gains, the company finished the year with a $ 2.7 billion loss, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo . On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $ 2.3 billion. During congressional hearings held in November 2008 at Washington D.C., Ford's Alan Mulally stated that "We at Ford are hopeful that we have enough liquidity. But we also must prepare ourselves for

9440-488: The industry. Mulally stated that "In addition to our plan, we are also here today to request support for the industry. In the near-term, Ford does not require access to a government bridge loan. However, we request a credit line of $ 9 billion as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions as we drive transformational change in our company". GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P. legislation funding provisions. On December 19,

9558-879: The introduction of the Courage C65 LMP2 car at the American Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta . This prototype racer uses the Renesis Wankel from the RX-8. Mazdas have also enjoyed substantial success in World Land Speed competition, SCCA competition, drag racing , pro rally competition (the Familia appeared in the WRC several times during the late '80s and early '90s), the One Lap of America race (winning SUV & truck in

9676-542: The introduction of the Mazda-Go auto rickshaw . The name Mazda came into existence with the production of the company's first three-wheeled trucks. Other candidates for a model name included Sumera-Go , Tenshi-Go , and more. Officially, the company states: Mazda comes from Ahura Mazda , the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom from the earliest civilization in West Asia . Key members of Toyo Kogyo interpreted Mazda as

9794-400: The job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories. The automaker reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $ 12.7 billion, and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009. However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $ 750 million profit. Despite

9912-574: The largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline-powered automobile was created in 1885 by the German inventor Karl Benz , with his Benz Patent-Motorwagen . More efficient production methods were needed to make automobiles affordable for middle class people. To which Ford contributed by, for instance, introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913 at the Ford factory in Highland Park . Between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced

10030-416: The least-efficient automaker in Japan (in terms of productivity), inability to adjust to excess inventory and over-reliance on the U.S. market, the company suffered a huge loss in 1975. An already heavily indebted Toyo Kogyo was on the verge of bankruptcy and was only saved through the intervention of Sumitomo keiretsu group, namely Sumitomo Bank , and the company's subcontractors and distributors. However,

10148-546: The lightweight RX-7 in 1978 and continuing with the modern RX-8 , Mazda has continued its dedication to this unique powerplant. This switch in focus also resulted in the development of another lightweight sports car, the piston-powered Mazda MX-5 Miata (sold as the Eunos and later Mazda Roadster in Japan), inspired by the concept ' jinba ittai '. Introduced in 1989 to worldwide acclaim, the Roadster has been widely credited with reviving

10266-541: The mid-to-late 1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices. With the dawn of the new century, legacy health care costs , higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins. Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company . By 2005, both Ford and GM 's corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status as

10384-540: The month, and that 37% of its sales came from fleet sales. In June 2010, sales to individual customers at dealerships increased 13% while fleet sales rose by 32%. In the first seven months of 2010, fleet sales of Ford for the same period rose 35% to 386,000 units while retail sales increase 19%. Fleet sales account for 39 percent of Chrysler's sales and 31 percent for GM's. At first, Ford in Germany and Ford in Britain built different models from one another until 1965, when

10502-579: The most popular and most affordable road racing classes in North America. The Spec Miata (SM) class is intended to provide the opportunity to compete in low-cost, production-based cars with limited modifications, suitable for racing competition. The rules are intentionally designed to be more open than the Showroom Stock class but more restricted than the Improved Touring class. Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford )

10620-539: The now-obsolete Sha-Mail never upgraded to 3G, effectively ending Sha-Mail once support for 2G networks ceased. The word Japanese word shamēru , often abbreviated to shame ( 写メ ), now commonly refers to any text message with an image attached. Mazda Mazda Motor Corporation ( マツダ株式会社 , Matsuda Kabushiki gaisha ) , also known as simply Mazda , is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū , Hiroshima , Japan. The company

10738-456: The only non-piston-engined car ever to win at Le Mans, and Mazda is the first Japanese brand to have won overall at Le Mans. This led to a ban on rotary engines in the Le Mans race starting in 1992, which has since been rescinded. After the 1991 race, the winning engine was publicly dismantled for internal examination, which demonstrated that despite 24 hours of extremely hard use it had accumulated very little wear. The Le Mans win in 1991 followed

10856-464: The past two years and will lose a similar amount in 2023 as the company looks to significantly invest in Electric Technology. The Ford Model E is expected to be profitable by 2026. In April 2023, United Kingdom ministers approved Ford's BlueCruise technology. Because of this assisted driving technology, Ford drivers can now legally take their hands off the wheel on certain roads. Its top speed

10974-481: The proceeds were used to build an auto plant in Salamanca , Mexico . The Mexican plant was built jointly by the company and Sumitomo Corporation . In May 2015, the company signed an agreement with Toyota to form a "long-term partnership", that would, among others, see Mazda supply Toyota with fuel-efficient SkyActiv gasoline and diesel engine technology in exchange for hydrogen fuel cell systems. Mazda tried using

11092-594: The professionally organized Pro Mazda Championship has been the most popular format for sponsors, spectators, and upward bound drivers. It is the second-highest level on the aforementioned Mazdaspeed driver development ladder. Engines for the Star Mazda series are all built by one engine builder, certified to produce the prescribed power, and sealed to discourage tampering. They are in a relatively mild state of racing tune, so that they are extremely reliable and can go years between motor rebuilds. Spec Miata has become one of

11210-457: The program. In November 2002, Japan's fair trade commission raided Vodafone's headquarters upon an accusation that the company had prevented retailers from lowering the cost of Sha-Mail enabled handsets upon launch. Though Vodafone planned to make Sha-Mail a centerpiece of its 3G service, the company lagged well behind its competitors in moving to 3G and capturing users; as of 2004 fewer than 20% of Vodafone subscribers were subscribed to 3G. Thus

11328-407: The prospect of further deteriorating economic conditions". He went on to state that "The collapse of one of our competitors would have a severe impact on Ford" and that Ford Motor Company supported both Chrysler and General Motors in their search for government bridge loans during the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis . Together, the three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of

11446-540: The retirement of president and chief operations officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as well. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as president and CEO, with Ford continuing as executive chairman. In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $ 25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy

11564-504: The same time. Consumers were confused as well by the explosion of similar new models. This selective marketing experiment was ended in the mid-1990s due to economic conditions, largely attributed to the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1991. Traditionally, Mazda has always been led by an executive leader known as the President and CEO. As of January 2022 , the United States

11682-478: The service, with around 5 million users using Movie Sha-Mail. In 2002 Vodafone , which had by that point acquired J-Phone, launched Vodafone live! as a global service. By December 2002, the European launch of Vodafone live! brought in more than 380,000 users. This rapid growth helped J-Phone move from #3 to #2 in total wireless data subscribers. J-Phone's competitors followed suit. Market leader NTT Docomo introduced

11800-423: The sole manufacturer of Wankel-type engines for the automotive market, mainly by way of attrition. (NSU and Citroën both gave up on the design during the 1970s, and prototype Corvette efforts by General Motors never made it to production.) This effort to bring attention to itself apparently helped, as Mazda rapidly began to export its vehicles. Both piston-powered and rotary-powered models made their way around

11918-482: The time were run using forced labor . The creation of a scientific laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1951, doing unfettered basic research, led to Ford's involvement in superconductivity research. In 1964, Ford Research Labs made a key breakthrough with the invention of a superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID . Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956 , which included such innovations as

12036-426: The turnaround during the early 2000s. Ford's increased influence during the 1990s allowed Mazda to claim another distinction in history, having maintained the first foreign-born head of a Japanese car company, Henry Wallace. Amid the world financial crisis in the fall of 2008, reports emerged that Ford was contemplating a sale of its stake in Mazda as a way of streamlining its asset base. BusinessWeek explained

12154-705: The use of this brand name was discontinued with the introduction of the Ford Transit in 1965. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo, Galaxy , S-Max and Kuga in Valencia (Spain), Fiesta in Cologne (Germany), Focus in Saarlouis (Germany), Ecosport and Puma in Craiova (Romania). Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford Otosan , established in

12272-561: The world. The rotary models quickly became popular for their combination of good power and light weight when compared to piston-engined competitors that required heavier V6 or V8 engines to produce the same power. The R100 and the RX series ( RX-2 , RX-3 , and RX-4 ) led the company's export efforts. During 1968, Mazda started formal operations in Canada (MazdaCanada) although Mazdas were seen in Canada as early as 1959. In 1970, Mazda formally entered

12390-490: Was appointed executive chairman in 1998, and also became chief executive officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser , becoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retirement of his uncle, Henry Ford II , in 1982. Ford sold motorsport engineering company Cosworth to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven in 2004, the start of a decrease in Ford's motorsport involvement. Upon

12508-471: Was believed to become its largest shareholder. Ford and Mazda remained strategic partners through joint ventures and exchanges of technological information. On September 30, 2015, when Ford's shares had sunk to a little over 2% due to stock dilution , Ford sold its remaining shares in Mazda. In 2011, Mazda raised more than 150 billion yen (US$ 1.9 billion) in a record share sale to replenish capital, as it suffered its biggest annual loss in 11 years. Part of

12626-767: Was derived from Ahura Mazda , the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom in Zoroastrianism , as well as from the surname of the founder, Matsuda . Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, as a cork -making factory founded in Hiroshima , Japan, January 30, 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927. In the late 1920s the company had to be saved from bankruptcy by Hiroshima Saving Bank and other business leaders in Hiroshima. In 1931, Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles with

12744-505: Was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., a cork-making factory, by Jujiro Matsuda . The company then acquired Abemaki Tree Cork Company. It changed its name to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927 and started producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is known for its innovative technologies, such as the Wankel engine , the SkyActiv platform, and the Kodo Design language. It also has

12862-514: Was going to cut 3,800 jobs across Europe, with the job cuts mainly focusing on their German and British workforce. Ford will be cutting 2,300 jobs from Germany, 1,300 from the United Kingdom, and an additional 200 jobs in the rest of Europe, according to the head of Ford Germany, Martin Sander. The cuts will mainly be done to the company's engineers. Ford also announced during the year that their electric vehicle business had lost $ 3 billion before taxes over

12980-552: Was introduced on April 17, 1964, during the 1964 New York World's Fair , where Ford had a pavilion made by The Walt Disney Company . In 1965, Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light. With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly successful vehicles around the world. During the 1980s, Ford began using the advertising slogan, "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" to introduce new customers to their brand and make their vehicles appear more modern. In 1990 and 1994, respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin . During

13098-631: Was on October 20, 1968, when two Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S coupes entered the 84-hour Marathon de la Route ultra-endurance race at the Nürburgring , one finishing in fourth place and the other breaking an axle after 81 hours. The next year, Mazda raced Mazda Familia R100 M10A coupes. After winning the Singapore Grand Prix in April 1969 and coming in fifth and sixth in the Spa 24 Hours (beaten only by Porsche 911s ), on October 19, 1969, Mazda again entered

13216-503: Was responsible for the manufacture and sale of the famous Continental Mark II . At the same time, the Edsel division was created to design and market that car starting with the 1958 model year. Due to limited sales of the Continental and the Edsel disaster, Ford merged Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln into "M-E-L," which reverted to "Lincoln-Mercury" after Edsel's November 1959 demise. The Ford Mustang

13334-438: Was some sort of an image to send with?'" Takao also reportedly took inspiration from a survey he had read about adolescent girls keeping disposable cameras alongside their phones in their purse. J-Phone, meanwhile, was under pressure from competitors KDDI , which had a faster network, and NTT Docomo , which was preparing to move to 3G , and the company believed it could differentiate itself by focusing on email. J-Phone launched

13452-406: Was the eleventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2018 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2017 of $ 156.7 billion. In 2023, Ford produced 4.4 million automobiles, and employed about 177,000 employees worldwide. The company operates joint ventures in China ( Changan Ford ), Taiwan ( Ford Lio Ho ), Thailand ( AutoAlliance Thailand ), and Turkey ( Ford Otosan ). Ford owns

13570-659: Was to begin selling in late 1993. The initial Amati range would have included the Amati 500 (which became the Eunos 800 in Japan and Australia, Mazda Millenia in the U.S., and Mazda Xedos 9 in Europe), a rebadged version of the Mazda Cosmo and the Amati 1000 (a rear-wheel drive V12 competitor to the Lexus LS400 ). The Amati brand was eventually scrapped before any cars hit the market. In Europe,

13688-555: Was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available from the start as a 4-door or 2-door model) instantly became the best-selling sport-utility vehicle in the United States and kept that title for over a decade. Mazda has used Ford's Ranger pickup as the basis for its North American–market B-Series trucks, starting in 1994 and continuing through 2010, when Mazda discontinued the B-Series trucks to North America. Following its long-held fascination with alternative engine technology, Mazda introduced

13806-631: Was used as an advertising slogan in North America. One of the most niche sub-brands was M2 , used on three rare variants of the Eunos Roadster (the M2-1001, M2-1002 and M2-1028) and one of the Autozam AZ-1 (M2-1015). M2 even had its own avant-garde company headquarters, but was shut down after a very short period of operation. In early 1992, Mazda planned to release a luxury brand, Amati , to challenge Acura , Infiniti , and Lexus in North America, which

13924-518: Was used in combination with the corporate emblem of Mitsubishi Motors , which was responsible for sales, to produce the Toyo Kogyo three-wheeled truck registered trademark. Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, most notably the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle . The company formally adopted the Mazda name in 1984, though every automobile sold from

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