Ford Motor (F) (10.28 +0.28)

Mazda Motor Corp. (7261.TO) President Takashi Yamanouchi said Monday that he
and Alan Mulally, president of Ford Motor Co. (F) of the United States, agreed
last month to continue the capital and business alliance between the two auto
makers, Kyodo News reported Tuesday.   Yamanouchi told a press conference in
Hiroshima that he paid a call on Mulally at the Ford headquarters in December,
and the two chief executive officers confirmed there is no change to their
firms' ties, even as a series of realignments is taking place in the global
auto industry.   Among such moves, Suzuki Motor Corp. and Germany's Volkswagen
AG announced a capital tie-up in December.   In the talks between Mazda and
Ford, the U.S. car maker said it intends to maintain its approximately 11%
stake in Mazda and explained that its partial sale of Mazda stocks in the fall
of 2008 was due to Ford's financial condition and not meant to change the two
firms' strategic relationship, according to Yamanouchi
(Dow Jones Newswires 05:57 PM ET 01/04/2010)

Perry Mick