| Mazda
Mazda was founded as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd in Japan in 1920 and later renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd in 1927. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles, with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931. Durring World War II Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese government. The first four-wheel car, the Mazda R360, was introduced in 1960. Although every automobile sold from the beginning bore the name Mazda, the company didn't formally adopt the Mazda name until 1984. Ford Motor Company had owned a 15% stake in Mazda, and this investment was increased to a 33.4% controlling share on 31 March 1999 after Mazda fell into financial crisis. Ford executive Mark Fields is credited with Mazda's turnaround. Ford has based many of its models on Mazdas, such as the Probe, late model (North American) Escort and Mercury Tracer, and the companies co-developed the Ford Escape AKA Mazda Tribute, together. Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer, which Mazda sold as the Mazda Navajo (1991-1994). Ironically, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford Escape instantly became the best selling SUV, which lasted for over a decade. Mazda has also enabled Ford to create a stronger brand presence in Japan, allowing Autorama dealers to sell its rebadged line, as well as some Ford USA and Ford Europe models. Ford and Mazda have successfully worked together on several models and have moved onto collaboration in a more fundamental sense, through platform sharing.
http://www.mazda.com/
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