Mazda Posts Profit Gains Amid U.S. Sales Success

Mazda posted a $40 million third-quarter profit in North America, providing a much needed boost to its ailing parent company, Ford, reports The Detroit News.

Sales of the MX-5 are up 134 percent, and Mazda is counting on a slew of new products, including a new version of the popular roadster and two crossover vehicles to keep momentum going.

Sales of older Mazda's like the Mazda6 sedan are beginning to slow, but the company is trying to make a splash with two new crossover utility vehicles: the CX-7, which is already in showrooms; and the larger CX-9, which will go on sale in December.

"Mazda has proven to be a tremendously resourceful product-development house. Competing in Japan has forced them to be exceptionally scrappy and opportunistic. We need more of that in Ford," Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.