TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - Mazda Motor Corp has agreed with Ford Motor to start talks to sell the U.S. carmaker all of its stake in a joint venture that runs the Flat Rock plant in the United States, Chief Executive Officer Masamichi Kogai said on Friday.
Mazda posted an one-time extraordinary loss of 36.6 billion yen ($358 million) in the year that ended in March in anticipation of the loss it will see when it sells off its 50 percent stake in the joint venture called AutoAlliance International, Kogai said.
Ford and Mazda currently each hold a 50 percent stake in the joint venture that operates the Flat Rock plant in Michigan. Mazda, which stopped making the Mazda6 at the plant in August 2012, no longer manufactures any of its vehicles there, while Ford makes its Fusion sedan at the plant.
Mazda started to operate its new Mexico plant in January, where it is manufacturing the Mazda3 and the Mazda2. ($1 = 102.2350 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Dominic Lau)