- Mazda Motor Corporation, Matsuda kabushiki gaisha?) is a Japanese automobile manufacturer, known in particular for the mass production of a vehicle equipped with a rotary engine (Wankel engine type) instead of conventional pistons, which will be developed in the 1960s, then offered on its 1967 Cosmo sports coupe. This technology, adopted by manufacturers such as Citroën, Mercedes and NSU, will gradually be abandoned except by Mazda which still offered it until 2011 in its RX-8 coupe. Mazda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with a car equipped with a Wankel engine, the Mazda 787B.
- History
- On January 30, 1920, Jūjirō Matsuda founded the company Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd4, which manufactured corks used by a wine industry then booming in the Japanese archipelago.
- In 1921, the company acquired the Abemaki Tree Cork Cpny5.
- The company changed its name to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd in 19276 and began manufacturing machine tools, then a first car in 1931, the Mazda-Go, a three-wheeled car (tricycle similar to a rickshaw). ) marketed in China and India6. Toyo Kogyo would also produce weapons for the Japanese military throughout World War II, including the Type 99 rifle series.
- The company officially adopted the name Mazda in 1934. It finds its dual origins in the Japanese pronunciation of the surname of its founder, Jujirō Matsuda, as well as in the name of an ancient Persian deity, Ahura Mazda.
- In 1960, the brand launched its first passenger car, the R360, and changed its logo to adopt a stylized M7. This entry into the passenger car market follows the People's Car Plan, a program of the Ministry of Industry encouraging car manufacturers to launch into the production of small cars8.
- In 1962, Mazda opened a vehicle assembly plant in South Korea, then in 1963, another assembly plant in South Africa6.
- At the end of the 1960s, Mazda became interested in the Wankel engine for which it acquired the license at the start of the decade and offered it on its 1967 Cosmo sports coupe. This technology, adopted by manufacturers such as Citroën and NSU, was little known. little abandoned, except by Mazda which still offered it in its RX-8 coupe until 2011. Mazda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with a car equipped with a quad-rotor Wankel engine, the Mazda 787B, becoming the first Japanese brand to establish itself in Sarthe.
- In 1979, Ford bought a quarter of the capital of Mazda9. A joint venture, Auto-Alliance, is created with Ford, to combine their production platforms8. Several models were then produced by Mazda and marketed by Ford, and vice versa10.
- In 1987, Mazda opened a production plant in the United States, in Flat Rock, Michigan. In 1992, Ford bought 50% of the factory11.
- In April 1996, Ford increased its stake in Mazda by adding $486 million, totaling 33.4% of the shares, which gave it a blocking minority and the position of largest shareholder. The contract also stipulates that Mazda president Yoshihiro Wada must give way to Henry Wallace, a Ford man. Ford strengthened its capital acquisition while the Japanese brand was going through an acute financial crisis, linked among other things to its main factory, Hofu, in which the company had invested heavily, but whose production capacities lacked adaptability9,12. In 1996, Mazda produced only 800,000 vehicles, compared to 1.4 million in 199012.
- With its own financial difficulties and its near bankruptcy between 2008 and 2010, Ford in turn gradually withdrew until it had only 2.1% of Mazda shares in 201413.
- From the 2010s, Mazda took inspiration from Kodo design (slender shape of a moving animal) to design the shape of its new cars14. From 2015, all of the brand's European dealerships signed a new contract to restructure their dealership centers according to the parent company's new directives15. In April 2015, Toyota announced a partnership with Mazda in which the automotive leader took inspiration from Mazda's Demio model for the new models in the Scion16 range. In August 2017, Toyota announced a partnership with Mazda, through which it took a 5% stake in the latter. This partnership also aims to jointly build two factories in the United States for $1.6 billion. This partnership also covers the field of electric cars17. Mazda's new electric car packs a 143 hp electric motor at 4,500 rpm powered by a 35.5 kWh18 lithium-ion battery.
