Mazda
- This article is about the automobile maker. For the Zoroastrian god, see Ahura Mazda. Mazda was also a brand of light bulbs.
Mazda Motor Corporation (マツダ) is an automobile maker based in Hiroshima, Japan.
Corporate History
Mazda Motors derives from the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles, with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931. The company formally adopted the Mazda name in 1984, though every automobile sold from the beginning bore that name. The first four-wheel car, the Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda Carol in 1962.
The Ford Motor Company has owned 25% of Mazda since 1979, and its stake was increased to a 33% controlling interest in 1992. Ford has based many of its models on Mazdas, such as the Probe, Laser, Telstar, the Australasian Courier and Asian and European Ranger, the late model (North American) Escort and Mercury Tracer, Freda, Ixion, Econovan and Festiva. Many new Ford models are based on Mazda designs and components as well, including the co-developed Escape/Mazda Tribute.
1960s
The year 1960 was the birth of Mazda as an automaker. In just this decade, the marque progressed from a 16hp minicar to a rotary engined sports car, the Mazda Cosmo. Mazda also entered the United States market at the end of the decade.
1970s
Internationally, the 1970s were the heyday of Mazda as a performance leader. The Wankel "rotary" engines outperformed their piston-based competitors by a large margin, and Mazda made the most of the powerplant by putting it in almost every product they sold, from the Rotary Pickup to the RX-7, and even the large Luce sedan.
Released in 1978, it was the RX-7 that secured Mazda a place in automotive history. The coupe was a hot seller immediately on its release, loved as much for its styling as its engineering, and etching Mazda's performance image in the minds of the buying public.
1980s
The 1980s saw Mazda transition from a niche Japanese player to a part of the global Ford empire. Mazda dropped the rotary engine from all but the RX-7 in the US market, and contributed to Ford's lineup, most notably with the Probe/MX-6. Mazda also began building the 626 in the United States. U.S. production was initiated via a joint venture with Ford called AutoAlliance International.
Mazda finished the decade with the revolutionary Miata/MX-5 sports car. This model revitalized the world sports car market, which was filled at the time with expensive, heavy GT cars. The Miata was designed to be light, cheap, and nimble.
1990s
The 1990s were a decade of decline for Mazda. The third-generation RX-7 sold poorly, and the Miata could not sustain the company's sales. The rest of the lineup was poorly-received in the United States, from the anonymous 626 to the overpriced 323.
Some of the problems stemmed from Mazda trying to make every single model different. For example, the four 323 variants at the beginning of the decade (three-, four- and five-door, and station wagon) shared no body panels—something unsustainable by a company of Mazda's size at that time. Mazda had not forecast the late 1980s' and early 1990s' recession and borrowed heavily.
In Japan, Mazda embarked on a disastrous attempt to diversify its brand names, launching no fewer than 5 different brands and assigning its best cars, including the Cosmo, RX-7, and MX-5 to other nameplates. This was an attempt to match market leader Toyota, which had multiple chains in Japan. These nameplates were phased out late in the decade.
In other markets, Mazda's identity crisis saw it confused over which logo to adopt. The Mazda script was used in most advertising, but many cars were exported with different logos. This was not sorted till the end of the decade.
2000s
The 21st century started out better for Mazda. After a decade of anonymous products, the company launched the excellent Mazda 6/Atenza, relaunched the rotary engine with the RX-8, and captured the heart of the small car market with the Mazda3. By 2004, Mazda had surpassed the ailing Mitsubishi in sales.
Mazda USA
Toyo Kogyo entered the United States market in 1970 with a single car, the RX-2. The next year there were four cars: The compact Familia-based 1200 and R100, and the larger Capella-based 616 and RX-2). For 1972, the line expanded again with the addition of the RX-3 and B1600, while the 1200 and 616 were replaced by the similar 808 and 618, respectively. The piston-powered 618 was gone the next year, as was the R100, but the 1.2 L 1200 was back for a single year.
Mazda quickly rose in prominence, helped in large part to their use of Wankel engines. 1974 was the year of the rotary with the introduction of both the Rotary Pickup and RX-4. In fact, the 808 and B1600 were the only piston-engined Mazdas offered in the United States that year! 1975 had a similar lineup, minus the retired RX-2.
Mazda had designed the REPU and RX-4 with the American market in mind, but the energy crisis was looming. The company's sales were slipping due to the Wankel's reputation as a gas hog, so Mazda responded with the reintroduction of a Familia-based car powered by a tiny piston engine, the 1.3 L Mizer. That car, and 1977 GLC (its next-generation brother) saved the company in the United States with terrific reviews and better sales.
Also introduced in 1976 was the Wankel-powered RX-5 Cosmo. But the writing was on the wall for Mazda's mainstream Wankel lineup - every one of the older "rotary" models was cancelled after 1978.
Even though the Wankel engine had lost its allure, Mazda persevered with the technology and found a niche for it. The 1979 RX-7 rotary was the company's greatest image-builder yet, casting a halo over the rest of the model line. Also relaunched that year was the company's entrant in the midsize market, the 626.
The RX-7 and 626 bouyed Mazda's American fortunes enough for it to expand. Mazda built an American plant (now AutoAlliance International) to build the 626, bringing the company to Ford's attention. The two joined together on the 626's coupe brother, now known as the MX-6/Probe, and these larger cars sold well.
Mazda finished the 1980s the same way as the 1970s, with an image-building sports car. The Miata was another tremendous halo car for the company, kicking off an industry boom in the sports car segment. The third-generation RX-7, introduced in 1993, was much liked, but few were sold, causing an end of the model's importation just three years later.
Mazda United States timeline
| Class | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| compact | 1200 | 1200 | Mizer | GLC | 323 | 323 | Protegé | Protegé | Mazda3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| R100 | MX-3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sports | RX-3 | RX-7 | RX-7 | RX-7 | RX-8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miata | Miata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| midsize | 616 | 618 | 626 | 626 | 626 | 626 | 626 | Mazda6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RX-2 | MX-6 | MX-6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| fullsize | RX-4 | 929 | 929 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| luxury | Cosmo | Millenia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| minivan | MPV | MPV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SUV | Navajo | Tribute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| pickup | B1600 | B1800 | B2000 | B2000 | B2200 | B2200 | B2300 | B2500 | Truck | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| REPU | B2200 | B2600 | B2600 | B3000 | B3000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B4000 | B4000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marques
Mazda has used a number of different marques in the Japan market, including Autozam, Eunos, and Efini, although they have been phased out. This diversification stressed the product development groups at Mazda past their limits. Instead of having a half-dozen variations on any given platform, they were asked to work on dozens of different models. And consumers were confused as well by the explosion of similar new models.
Today, the former marques exist in Japan as sales channels (specialized dealerships) but no longer have specialized branded vehicles. In other words, the Mazda Carol is sold at the Autozam store (which specializes in keicars), but it is sold with the Mazda marque, not as the Autozam Carol as it once was.
In the early 1990s Mazda almost created a luxury marque, Amati, to challenge Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus in North America. In Europe, the equivalent Xedos marque was launched, lasting just a few years. The initial Amati products would have been the Amati 500 (which became the Mazda Millenia), and the Amati 1000 (a new rear wheel drive V12 successor to the Mazda 929). This never happened, leaving the near-luxury Millenia to the Mazda brand.
Trivia
Mazda had the distinction of having the first foreign CEO to head a Japanese car company, former Ford Motor Company CFO, Scottish-born Henry Wallace in 1996. Many Japanese media outlets at the time reacted in shock and horror, and wondered if Ford would cut jobs. He was followed by Ford President James Miller in 1997, and Mark Fields in 1999 until 2001, when he was tapped to lead Ford's Premier Automotive Group and handed the reins to Lewis Booth. Lewis Booth went back to Ford in 2003 and Mazda Director Hidekazu Imaki is now CEO.
There have been many stories about how it got its name. Some say it got its name from the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda, while others say it was an anglicized pronunciation of the founder's name, Jujiro Matsuda. The most likely reason was that the name Mazda coincided with founder Matsuda's last name, who was known for his interest in spiritual matters, and may have chosen Mazda in honor of the Zoroastrians, and his own name. Occam's razor leads one to believe that the company name comes from the founder's name.