Ford Motor Co.’s credit arm will no longer provide financing for customers buying vehicles in the U.S. from Mazda Motor Corp., Ford’s Japanese affiliate.

The lending arm for Ford told investors last month it is substantially scaling back the number of vehicles it expects to lease and warned that if market conditions continue to deteriorate, further losses could place Ford Credit’s lending plan at further risk.

Squeezed by falling used-vehicle prices, as well as continued tumult in the credit markets on Wall Street, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp are significantly scaling back their auto-leasing business. Chrysler LLC ended leasing altogether as a result of tightening credit.

Ford lost $8.7 billion in the second quarter of the year, taking a write-down of $2.1 billion to cover unprofitable auto leases made by its credit arm.

The move confirmed by officials Thursday allows Ford Credit to focus its resources on mainly providing loans and leases for the auto maker’s namesake brand. Chief executive Alan Mulally’s “One Ford” turnaround strategy calls for building up the Ford name and image.

Starting Oct. 1, Mazda will use Chase Auto Finance Chase to finance customers who buy and lease their cars, according to an e-mail from Mazda CEO Jim O’Sullivan sent to the company’s dealers in the U.S. this week. A unit of Ford Credit now provides those services. The news was first reported by Automotive News on Thursday.

Ford owns 33.4 percent of Mazda Motor Corp. At the beginning of 2008, Mazda operated more than 600 franchises in the U.S.

Customers who are currently financed through Ford Credit will continue that relationship until the end of their loan period, according to Ford Credit spokeswoman Brenda Hines.

She said the change will allow Ford Credit to focus on its other brands – Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. Ford credit also continues to finance loans for Jaguar and Land Rover, which were sold by Ford last year. Ford Credit will continue to write new loans through the end of the year with Mazda to help with the transition to Chase, according to Ms. Hines.

She declined to break out how much of Ford Credit’s revenue is driven by its business with Mazda.

Chase spokeswoman Mary Ann Bean confirmed the details of the program. In July, Chase Auto Finance told Chrysler LLC dealers that the company will no longer finance leases for the automaker’s vehicles.

Long-time Le Mans competitor Mazda is jumping into the American Le Mans Series mid-season with an all-new car. The B-K Motorsports Lola B08/86 Mazda MZR-R Coupe will make its racing debut at the ALMS Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta next week.

“This is the top rung of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports program and we needed to raise our efforts,” said John Doonan, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Team Development Manager. “The B-K team has already invested over 1200 hours into the assembly of the new car and we are optimistic about the final two races of 2008 and are already looking forward to the 2009 Sebring race.”

The first coupe — meaning “closed cockpit” in this case — to compete in the LMP2 class, the car is Mazda’s flagship racecar that will do battle with the Porsches and Acuras that have dominated the LMP2 class for years. The new Lola features the MZR-R engine co-developed by Mazda and AER. The 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder was designed to make 500 hp and 400 lb-ft. of torque, though like all race cars, it will be fitted with a restrictor. The restrictor size has been increased for the new car, but because closed-cockpit cars are required to have air conditioning to regulate cockpit temperatures, the power gains will be negligible. Thanks to the coupe design, the Lola is expected to have 10% more downforce and 7% less drag than a comparable open-cockpit car. The car also features a faster fueling mechanism and an improved fuel collector to cut down pit-stop times.

The car will be driven by the team of Ben Devlin and Geraldo Bonilla, with current Indy Lights champion Raphael Matos rejoining the team for the Petit race. The car will also run at the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in mid-October.