Crash Avoided In Greece Makes Mazda More Valuable

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Guess which car company did profit the most from Greece’s weekend elections. It’s Mazda. Mazda’s stock was up 6 percent in Tokyo today.

Amongst carmakers, Mazda is the croaking canary in a soot-filled coalmine. Few other Japanese carmakers are as much exposed to the European epidemic as Mazda. Most of Mazda’s production is in high-yen Japan. In Europe, its cars don’t make a profit. In other markets, Mazda competes with European carmakers that benefit from the low Euro. In the last 12 months, the Mazda stock lost more than half of its value, with news of the first failed Greek election sending it to an all-time low of 86 yen a few weeks ago.

Six weeks ago, Mazda announced a reduction of its workforce in Europe and the U.S.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 3 comments
  • Brettc Brettc on Jun 18, 2012

    Mazda sure is in a bad situation. I was looking at vehicles this weekend and was really considering the CX-5 especially because there's the potential for a diesel engine. It's now off my list due mostly to all the rusty Mazdas I see. I saw a white Mazda 3 this morning with rust stains coming from the high mount break light. How the hell does a car that's less than about 5 years old just start rusting? Is Mazda cheaping out by forgetting to prime or paint the other side of the metal? I also noticed that Mazda has nothing mentioned about a corrosion warranty on the window stickers of their cars. Meanwhile Toyota offers 5 years/unlimited mileage and VW still offers 12 years/unlimited mileage. Needless to say, my next vehicle will be a TDI Golf wagon.

  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jun 18, 2012

    my next vehicle will be a TDI Golf wagon. as long as is not going to be automatic. not sure their dual clutch is that much better than their autobox!

  • "scarey" "scarey" on Jun 18, 2012

    Judging from the sound that the Pinkmobile in the video was making, the VW bus was probably more viable at the end than the Mazda, despite all the body damage. I WAS impressed at the size of the Mazda van. Why don't they sell those here ?

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