MAZDA POPS CHAMPAGNE AFTER 90 YEARS OF LIFE

This year Mazda celebrates nine decades of inspirational advancements by people, who dared to be innovators, who were uncompromising in their approach to revolutionary design and engineering.

“Many people view Mazda as a young brand,” explains Doreen Mashinini, Mazda Marketing Manager. “But in truth Mazda has a seasoned heritage. The company has a legacy of breaking new ground and leading innovations in the fields of aerodynamics and engineering. The brand's success with rotary engine technology is an example of the cutting edge advancements pioneered by Mazda.”

The Hiroshima plant is one of the largest single-site automobile manufacturing plants in the world. Mazda is dedicated to producing vehicles that meet the needs and desires of people around the world. To pursue this, Mazda has a global R&D network with operations in Japan (Hiroshima and Yokohama), the United States (Irvine, California, and Ann Arbor, Michigan), and Germany (Oberursel).

The story of Mazda began in 1920. Jujiro Matsuda founded a company that 14 years later would combine his surname and the name of the Zoroastrian god representing light and goodness, Ahura-Mazda, to create Mazda.

The company’s first foray into motor vehicle manufacturing came in 1931. Called the Mazda-Go it was a three-wheeled truck that was later exported to China.

The company shifted focus when the Second World War broke out and began making rifles but after the war the company was able to refocus its efforts. It resumed production and export of the same 3-wheeled truck and in 1958 the first 4-wheel truck, the Mazda Romper followed suit.

In 1960 Mazda introduced its first passenger car, the Mazda R360 Coupe, the first of a long list of successful, insightful products.

In the sixties Mazda also pursued the development of the rotary engine (RE), there were formidable technical challenges inherent to the technology. Mazda alone persevered, eventually overcoming these obstacles and successfully achieving RE mass production.

On May 30, 1967, Mazda commenced sales of the world’s first dual-rotor RE car, the Cosmo Sport. Following this, Mazda introduced other RE vehicles to the market, including the Familia Rotary Coupe, Savanna, RX-7 and Eunos Cosmo. With a number of improvements in fuel economy and environmental performance over the years, sales of Mazda vehicles equipped with RE engines are continuing.

The history of Mazda in South Africa dates back to the early sixties where cars like the Cosmo Sport, Mazda Capella (626), Mazda Familia (323) helped to establish the brand.

By the mid-1980s Mazda’s total cumulative production worldwide, was recorded at 10 million cars. By 1986, 1.5 million of these had been rotary engine vehicles. And in 1987 the grand total doubled to 20 million.

Several new cars were introduced in the decade including the Mazda B-Series. And, in 1989, something very special happened: the Mazda MX-5 was unveiled for the very first time, at the Chicago Motor Show.

In the early nineties Mazda enjoyed success on the racetrack wining the illustrious Le Mans 24-Hour race with the Mazda 787B. It was the first victory for any Japanese car manufacturer, and the only victory for a rotary engine.

By the end of the millennium the 500 000th Mazda MX-5 had hit the road.

In 2002 the company adopted 'Zoom-Zoom' as the embodiment of the brand. The new brand ethos emphasised the feeling of liberation that comes from experiencing the sheer joy of motion. Mazda builds cars that capture that feeling, imaginative cars, insightful cars, cars that get noticed! Zoom-Zoom has put this emotion into words for the brand, capturing the imagination of the public.

The following year the first production version of the Mazda RX-8 appeared. Its RENESIS engine won the 'Engine of the year' title, in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, an all-new version of the world's greatest-selling roadster, the Mazda MX-5 was launched.

In South Africa the brand continues to grow from strength to strength. This year Mazda celebrates 20 years of conservation commitments with the Mazda Wildlife Fund. Launched in April 1990, Mazda has invested over R26 million into the Fund over the past 20 years with a further investment of R1.5 million per annum earmarked to contribute towards a multitude of scientific endeavours in critical areas such as education, conservation and research.

The Mazda Aerobatics team has also garnered ongoing attention for the brand. Over the past decade the Mazda Aerobatic Team has established itself as one of the best Formation Aerobatic Teams in the world. They achieved International recognition as the first South African team to display outside the country when they were invited to demonstrate their skills in the United Arab Emirates in 2006. In 2007, they attained a silver medal when they competed against teams from around the globe in the ‘World Grand Prix of Aerobatics’, a competition staged in Japan and by invitation only.

With 90 years of experience to feed off the Mazda brand continues to grow and break new ground as an innovative and dynamic vehicle manufacturer. The brand demonstrated its strength as a competitive challenger claiming the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year and World Car of the Year title with the Mazda2 in 2008.

Mazda currently has an extensive line-up of models on offer in South Africa including the: Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda5, Mazda6, MX-5, CX-7 and BT-50. South Africans can also look forward to the new Mazda5 and the Mazda2 sedan expected to arrive later in the year.

What started out as a tiny cork manufacturer in Hiroshima, Japan, today stands as a world leader in the production of commercial and passenger vehicles.

STORY BY MAZDA