The Mazda Motor Corporation is one of Japan’s leading automobile producers. The Mazda Motor Company is currently owned by the Ford Motor Company. The Mazda Company was originally referred to as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co and was founded in 1920. The company originally manufactured tools but in 1931 they created the Mazda-Go which was a three wheeled, odd looking truck like automobile. They made their first actual car in 1960 with the introduction of the Mazda R360.
1970-1990
In 1970 Mazda started to produce their automobiles in the United States. Mazda had a lot of international success in the 1970s with the introduction of the Wankel rotary engine. The engine is basically what made Mazda famous and it lead to the creation of the Mazda Rotary Pickup in the mid 1970s. The Mazda RX-7, which became their most famous car and is the image that is associated with the company, was introduced in the late 1970s.
While the 1970s had a lot of technological success for Mazda it was not until the 1980s that they started to enjoy commercial success. The Mazda 323 and 626 were big commercial successes. The late 80s led to the Mazda MX-5 or Miata, which were wildly popular and may be Mazda’s best products.
The 90s and Beyond
The 1990s were not good to Mazda as the company spent most of the decade in decline. They suffered from an image crisis as it seemed all their new cars they released were commercial failures. In 1999 the Ford Motor Company obtained the controlling interest in Mazda. Mazda started to turn things around in 2000 as their 2001 Mazda 6 and Mazda 2 were commercial successes. Currently they are doing well compared to their swoon in the 1990s.
Today, and throughout their history, Mazda has been very involved in auto racing and other sports. Today they sponsor the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a Japanese professional baseball team. They also sponsor the Sanfrecce Hiroshima football team and two Australian Football League teams.
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