Will Toyota potentially acquire Mazda in the future?

So far, Toyota doesn’t seem too interested in picking up more subsidiaries. They’ve already got Daihatsu for budget cars and Lexus for the luxury side, so buying out another company doesn’t really make much sense.

Mazda, on the other hand, doesn’t look like it’s struggling financially. They seem to be doing just fine on their own and aren’t in need of a bailout or help from a bigger player. That alone says a lot—they’re still holding their ground without needing a lifeline.

Also, trying to fold Mazda into Toyota's lineup would be tricky. As far as I know, Mazda mainly targets the middle-class market, which Toyota already has covered. Between their regular lineup and Lexus, Toyota isn’t exactly short on options for that segment. Adding Mazda might just overlap too much and not bring in enough profit to make it worth the hassle. If it was going to be a win for Toyota, they probably would've gone for it already.

Just look at most Mazda cars—they don’t seem too interested in making budget models, and quality is something they clearly take pride in. Of course, we’re not talking about rotary engines—that’s a thing of the past—but overall, Mazda makes pretty solid cars, and for now, they’re holding up well. It seems unlikely that Toyota would buy Mazda for that reason—Mazda still has enough strength to stand on its own in the global auto industry.

Mazda might not be a big manufacturer—in terms of volume, they're still behind Toyota and other major brands—but they've got their own loyal following. They seem like one of the few companies that still build cars with real passion, and their designs are consistently eye-catching. That seems to be Mazda's strong point these days, and they seem pretty happy with that. Maybe they have bigger ambitions, but for now, it looks like they don't need help from other brands to stay in the game.

I was thinking about what happened with Nissan. Basically, Toyota had way more power and money to buy them, but they didn’t do it. Nissan was actually a solid bargain—they’re a big company—but Toyota didn’t even consider it. It was Honda that showed interest, probably because they don’t have as many subsidiaries as Toyota. I’m guessing that’s also why Toyota didn’t go after Mazda, even though they might’ve had the chance. It just seems like Toyota wasn’t that into it.

It looks like, at least for now, Toyota and Mazda don’t have any plans to team up. They might work together on something in the future, but it probably won’t turn into a full-on alliance—though that would be pretty interesting. Toyota’s known for making super reliable cars, and Mazda’s great at building cars that are fun and stylish. Together, they’d make a strong and popular combo.

But for now, that’s not happening. And Mazda seems to be doing just fine on its own without needing help from Toyota or anyone else. Nissan, on the other hand, kind of collapsed and had to reach out to other companies just to stay afloat. They first approached Honda, but that didn’t work out, so they started looking elsewhere. Tesla ended up being one of the companies they had their eye on, but so far, nothing’s come of it. It seems like Tesla’s not too interested in buying a half-dead car company and they have another battle waiting. Tesla seems to be no longer the strongest EV manufacturer after being attacked by Chinese cars.

Honestly, Toyota probably won’t be adding any new subsidiaries anytime soon. They’ve already got a bunch of companies to manage, and from what I can tell, they’re still doing strong. No real need to expand further.