When Did Ford Start Selling Off Its Stake In Mazda?

The 2008 global financial crisis severely affected the automotive industry, with Ford among the hardest hit, as it was forced to sell off several brands and reduce its stakes in a number of companies. One of Ford's long-standing relationships that drew to an end during that period was with the Japanese automaker Mazda, in which it had held an ownership stake since the 1970s.

Ford's stake in Mazda peaked in the 1990s at 33.4%, giving it a controlling interest in the company. Ford sold Mazda stock worth around $540 million in November 2008, reducing its stake to around 13%, but still remaining one of its largest shareholders. At the time, Mazda's leadership was optimistic that the two automakers would maintain their collaboration and platform sharing. However, two years later, Ford sold a further stake in Mazda, reducing its share to just 3.5%. The Blue Oval continued to gradually reduce its share in Mazda over the following years, before finally selling its remaining 2.1% stake in 2015 and bringing to an end a partnership that had spanned three-and-a-half decades.

In 2008, Ford also sold Jaguar Land Rover, then part of the Premier Automotive Group division of Ford, which included the likes of Aston Martin (sold to a group of private investors in 2007) and Volvo Cars. Volvo Cars joined the long list of car brands Ford once owned but later sold or shut down in 2010, when it was sold to the Chinese company Geely.

The end of the Mazda-Ford partnership gave way to the start of another relationship for Mazda, this time with a company closer to home — Toyota. The partnership began in 2015, and the two Japanese companies announced plans to begin a joint venture to make cars in the U.S., develop advanced safety technologies, and collaborate on EV development. In a bid to grow their partnership, the companies also decided to acquire equity stakes in each other of equal value, with Toyota owning 5% of Mazda and Mazda holding a 0.25% stake in Toyota. 

As of September 2025, Toyota and the Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd are tied as the second-largest shareholders in Mazda, each holding a 5.1% stake. The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 17.7%. 

The Toyota-Mazda partnership resulted in a new manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, which has the capacity to produce 300,000 cars per year and makes models like the Toyota Corolla Cross and the Mazda CX-50. It appears that the partnership could also result in some truly exciting projects, possibly even a jointly-developed sports car.