Fire sale continues: Ford cuts stake in Mazda

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 18 November 2008 16:09 Yesterday GM sold its stake in Suzuki; today Ford announced plans to slash its shareholding in Mazda. Previously the Blue Oval held a third of Mazda’s stock, but it has cut that to just 13%. Ford admitted the sale was purely to boost its balance sheet, as the Big Three continue to struggle with cashflow.

Audi SQ5 brings diesel power to S-line crossover

Audi chose Le Mans weekend to unveil the newest and sportiest model in the Q5 range. The Audi SQ5 has 20-inch wheels, a lowered sport suspension, an Alcantara-swathed interior and diesel power under the hood. Enthusiasts need not despair, though.

2013 Ford Mondeo: Price cuts & new models

That means a simplified lineup for the new Mondeo and the introduction of a cheaper entry-level model – the Mondeo Graphite – and a new model at the top end – the Titanium X Business Edition – with more equipment and a lower price. The Mondeo Graphite comes with 17″ alloys, sports suspension, Bluetooth, AirCon and part leather and starts at £15,995 – more than £2k cheaper than the former entry-level Mondeo Edge. At the other end of the scale, Ford are introducing the Titanium X Business Edition which replaces both the Titanium and Titanium X, gets more equipment than the Titanium X and yet costs £1500 less.