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NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! ...my only reservation of buying my pr5 was its connections with that murderous company (family friend died in a pinto years ago)

i hope this is just unconfirmed rumors that they are posting

 

DAMN!!! That's some fucked up ****! When I was little my little sister and I got stuck in an old Ford station wagon that caught fire for some damn reason. Oh well, I guess if Ford can't beat them they just buy them and then turn them into Fords. hhhmmm.... Ford... Borg... coincidence or not?

 

The good news is that Ford has put Mazda in charge of all 4-cylinder engine design and production. That means that anything ranging from a Volvo to a Focus to a Mazda 3 will have a Mazda-designed engine in it.

 

This is old news, (is that too oxymoronic??) but we'll have to see how it plays out.

The platform is also being shared with the replacement for the Volvo S40 so there are really three companies designing various parts. As long as they leave more to Mazda and Volvo we'll be OK. If they Blue Oval it...We're F***ed.

 

DAAAAMMMMNNNIIITTT!!!! Everytime you start getting what you want you get it taken away from you. Why the hell must these big conglomerates feel the need to take over smaller companies and making them a part of their own so they can share platforms and engines and the like. If your product stinks...stop making it!!! Ford should be put out its misery for the lousy crap products they put out on a yearly basis. You have toyota sharing with GM now(Matrix/Vibe) you have Honda also selling 50,ooo enignes and transmissions to saturn, you have the Mazda3 WHICH WILL MOSTLY BE A FORD, you have Mercedes sharing parts now with Chrysler...not to mention the Protege is one of the few products made completely in Japan. Now that will be all for nothing. That is one of the reasons I purchased my PR5 was because of its part content and its final assembly point (Hitroshima)
Enough with part sharing and platform sharing. Enough with different parts of vehicles being made all of the world and converging in one final assembly point. Consumers need to band together and fight this!!!
No more mergers. No more corporate take overs! And no more awesome products being turned to GARBAGE~~~

 

it's just the fact that ford now has some control over design specs on the next protege is enough for me to stay away...just b/c the engine will be reliable doesn't mean that we're safe from fords ruthless cost cutting

 

since the Protege will still be built in Japan, most likely all its parts will also be sourced from Japanese suppliers, and subject to typical Japanese quality control during assembly. Kind of the same deal that the Euro Focus is much better built than the US Focus. The Focus' design was never the problem, it's the quality (or the lack of it) of the parts from the US suppliers, as wells as assembly quality control, that's causing the numerous recalls that plague the US Focus.

I mean, Mazda already shared its Protege chassis with Ford once before already (1st gen and Escort), and 1st gens are still going strong, so I don't see such big deal at all...

plus I've heard that the Focus chassis is more advanced than the Proteges....

 

They have been doing this AT LEAST since the early 90s. Toyota has been manufacturing in the USA since 1986. My '90 camry was made in the U.S. It's still running great. Corolla's were shared with GM at the NUMMI plant (where pontiac vibe / matrix is). Correct me if I'm wrong, but those corolla's are one of the most reliable cars on the road...

and like ZoomZoomH said, us first gen's shared with the Escort. And I love my little baby. So seriously, I wouldn't worry.