Mazda Asserts Design Independence from Ford to Keep Brand Alive (Lindsay Whipp / Bloomberg News)

Ford Motor Co.'s London design center, opened in June to cut costs by cooperating across brands, will miss at least one member of its empire. Mazda Motor Corp. insists on keeping its vehicle styling separate. The solo approach of Mazda, a third-owned by Ford, is typified by the Demio compact that went on sale last week in Japan. Mazda avoided discussing its plans for about two years and then resisted Ford efforts to make the Demio look more like its own Fiesta. Design is "the most important part" to keep different, said Fumiaki Inami, Mazda's chief of product strategy, in an interview. "Why should we work together?"

I realize now this is a story from Aug 14 '02, but I thought it was interesting anyway.

 

We'll see how long that keeps up, with the Mazda3 and new Focus sharing a platform and powertrain.

 

...what came from where?? or was it co-engineered??