Mazda, Toyota May Merge Finance Units

Mazda Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. are studying a plan to merge their captive finance units, sources tell The Japan Times.

They say Toyota Finance would own 51% and Mazda 49% of SMM Auto Finance Inc. SMM currently is controlled by two units of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

The deal would extend an equity alliance launched by the two carmakers in August 2017 when Toyota acquired 5% of Mazda, and Mazda bought a 0.25% stake in Toyota. The alliance was created to build a jointly owned and operated assembly plant in Huntsville, Ala. The $1.6 billion facility will open in 2021 with capacity to make 300,000 vehicles per year.

Mazda and Toyota have collaborated since 2010 on powertrains, when Toyota began supplying a variant of its Prius hybrid powertrain to the smaller company.