Ford Fiestas being sold as Mazda 121s?

bigpinkelephant

Am I missing something here? I know cars can share many parts on the inside (e.g. VW and Seat, Corsa/Punto)- but on the outside???

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/121/1.25L-GLX/977278/

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/121/1.3/875984/

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/121/1.3-LX/871726/

E92

You're not missing out on anything. The only difference between the 2 is the badge(and Mazda only ever sold it in the most basic of trims).

The Ford is infinitely more desirable in the used car market though. Don't ask why, they're exactly the same car.

crosstownk

Yep - sounds right. Especially as Ford are in bed with Mazda.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda

Kimbot

After the 121 had ceased production, Mazda in Europe sold a re-badged Ford Fiesta as a Mazda 121. This car was entirely designed by Ford Europe and has no Mazda parts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_121

Oilrig

IIRC, at that stage, Mazda were threatened with bankruptcy. Ford, being a major shareholder decided that Mazda needed to forget its niche approach and start competing in volume sales (hence the demise of Xedos)

The Fiesta/121 was the first response. Same car, different badge, and different parts prices...:(

bazz26

Fiesta always had more appeal as it had a wider range of engines and trim levels to suit varied tastes.

121 was only available in one trim level and it was basic. I don't Mazda really had any interest in selling this car.

colm_mcm

at least it got the 1.25 engine!

L-M

Hah! I wonder could u change a few badges and see if any1 noticed the difference...

colm_mcm

depends on how easily the rear boot trim would come off!

L-M

Depends on how much time u have:p

colm_mcm

you also need to remove the (superfluous on unpainted bumpers) rubbing strips to get the Fiesta look!
Seeing as you seem to have time on your hands...

L-M

Ha, not enough to do tha haha... Ten mins was my limit:rolleyes:

zilog_jones

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Am I missing something here? I know cars can share many parts on the inside (e.g. VW and Seat, Corsa/Punto)- but on the outside???

I guess you've never seen a Seat Cordoba and VW Polo Classic (saloon) next to each other? Also:
- Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan/Seat Alhambra (or "Sharalaxhambra")
- Citroen Synergie/Peugeot 806/Fiat Ulysse/Lancia Zeta
- Honda Civic (5 door)/Rover 400/Honda Domani (JDM), and several other Hondas/Rovers (let's not forget the Triumph Acclaim/Honda Ballade!)
- Opel Frontera/Isuzu MU
- Ford Maverick/Nissan Terrano II (why did they bother with either of those? )

I think it's much worse in Japan though. Isuzus sold as Honds (seen an imported Horizon over here - was shocked and appalled), Hondas sold as Isuzus, Suzukis sold as Mazdas, Daihatsus sold as Toyotas, and - in reversal over there - Mazdas sold as Fords.

S.I.R

ford owns a fair bit over 50 % of mazda and thus is ruining the company which is also way you see cross breathing between car's.... pitty they never 3 rotar'ed the mustang... that would be intresting...

PRND

When I was in Japan, I saw a Land Rover Discovery mk1 with a Honda badge. I would have thought in Japan that a European car would demand a higher price than a Japanese one.