Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 Are Cousins Under the Skin -- But That's OK
One of the most encouraging things in the current automotive era is that the car companies are finally getting global platforms right. That's where several different models share as much as possible under the skin, while retaining enough distinctiveness on the outside.
The Mazda2 model is the latest example from Mazda (MZDAF.PK), the longtime Japanese partner of Ford (F). The Mazda2 and the Ford Fiesta share very, very few identical parts -- exactly four, including wheel bearings and a couple of suspension components, according to Dave Coleman, Mazda2 product development engineer.
But the partners shared costs in the development stage, when basic decisions are made about the precise size and shape of the car - so-called "mounting points," from which thousands of details followed. The end result is that the Mazda2 isn't going to be confused with the Ford Fiesta, even though they're related.
Their styling is quite different. They also have different engines. The Mazda2, especially with a manual transmission, has a sporty feel in keeping with Mazda's "Zoom-Zoom" brand image. The Fiesta is peppy enough, but it's also utilitarian, especially in hatchback form.
I often compare this process to the famous example in biology textbooks, where at an early stage it's hard to tell apart a chicken embryo, a fish embryo, and a human embryo. Car companies can save a lot of money at that embryonic stage, where you can't tell a Mazda from a Ford. The idea is to share costs over the greatest possible volume.
At a certain point, the fish embryo starts to develop gills, and from then on, it's obviously going to be a fish. For car companies approaching the finished-product stage, they have to know when to share, and when to start branching off.
Branching off can't be so late in the process that the "badge," the brand name, is the only thing that distinguishes what are supposed to be two different products. That's what the auto industry calls "badge engineering."
In Ford's case, for instance, the company has a history of producing cars for the Mercury brand that were pretty much warmed-over Fords. That lack of distinctiveness is a key reason why Ford killed the Mercury brand earlier this year.
Ford and Mazda have been partners since the early 1970s. Ford eventually bought a controlling share of just over one-third of Mazda's shares in 1996. Ford reduced its Mazda stake to 13 percent in late 2008, when it was still unclear whether Ford, General Motors and Chrysler would all go bankrupt.
Ford had a close call but avoided bankruptcy. Since then Ford has put some daylight between itself and GM and Chrysler by gaining more sales and market share than Ford's cross-town rivals.
While Ford and Mazda have gotten it right with the Ford Fiesta and the Mazda2, their rivals have caught on, too. Toyota, for instance, already gets a lot of completely different-looking models off its Camry platform. GM is also getting better at global platforms. Badge engineering took a big hit when GM dropped the Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands.
Now the auto industry can get going on developing a new generation of chicken, fish and people.
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Photo: Mazda