Should Ford Motor Co. sell its 33.9% stake in Mazda Motor Corp.?
BusinessWeek asked the question on its Web site Monday, before quickly explaining why a divestiture is unlikely to happen for now.
Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford, bleeding cash and attempting to restructure its troubled North American operations, has used the sales
of assets including Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin in recent years
to raise cash. But Mazda, as BusinessWeek points out, is different. The
Japanese and U.S. automakers have extensive R&D ties, with more
than half of the designs thought up and approved from Mazda's Hiroshima, Japan,
headquarters destined to eventually wear the Ford brand.
Losing those resources is unlikely worth the $2 billion to $3
billion Ford might capture selling its Mazda holdings on the open
market. The automaker has preferred selling smaller, niche businesses
like its luxury brands that would not have the same impact on its
overall operations. - Lou Whiteman
See BusinessWeek story
See TheDeal.com story on Ford's second-quarter losses
See TheDeal.com story on Ford divestitures
See Dealwatch: Autos
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Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
Ford buys shares in Mazda; Ford sells shares in Mazda.
BMW bought British automaker Rover; BMW sold British automaker Rover.
Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler; Daimler-Benz sold Chrysler.
Wake up, people. Hello! Hello! Do you see a pattern here?
WHY WOULD SUPPOSEDLY INTELLIGENT EXECUTIVES MAKE SUCH DUMB ACQUISITIONS ONLY TO SELL THEM A FEW YEARS LATER?
(Answer: Because they were just following orders)