Brand histories
The History of Mazda
Autopapyrus
It's hard to find anyone today who would dispute that cars from the Japanese company Mazda are among the most beautiful in the world. And they aren't hand-built, limited-run products either. Cars from this company are available to a wide range of buyers because they sit in an affordable price range.
Yet not many people who know Mazda today are aware that the company traces its roots to a business that made and processed ordinary cork.
Mazda Motor Corporation is now a Japanese automotive giant with a worldwide reputation and sales in 120 countries. The company builds passenger cars as well as trucks, minivans and buses. Mazda Motor Corporation is a separate division within the Sumitomo financial and industrial group. Its headquarters is in the famous Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The company's birth is dated to 1920, when a small cork-processing business was founded. Seven years later it was renamed Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd., a name that stayed with the Mazda brand until 1987.
Four years after that, in 1931, the company released its first vehicles: three-wheeled trucks, which were in enormous demand at the time. Over the next quarter century, more than two hundred thousand of them were built and sold.
The first passenger car arrived in 1960. It was the R360 Coupe, powered by a two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 356 cc (21.7 cu in). The car made no claim to the premium class, or even a hint of luxury, but it was simple, affordable and practical, and that turned out to be what mattered.
In 1962 came the Mazda Carol 600, the company's first four-door car. Two years later the first generation of the famous Mazda Familia (800/1000) appeared. That same year the company began expanding into the American market, and then, in 1964, moved into Europe.
In 1967 the first Mazda rotary engine appeared. That same year the company signed a cooperation agreement with the Korean company Kia. The new venture was quite successful, so in 1979 Mazda signed another cooperation agreement, this time with the American automaker Ford. Ford acquired a quarter of Mazda's shares.
A year later Mazda released an all-wheel-drive Mazda Familia, and that same year the car won a Car of the Year title.
By 1981 Mazda had grown its U.S. sales so much that it had to open a separate subsidiary there, Mazda North America, Inc. In 1990 the Eunos Cosmo rolled off the assembly line, the first car equipped with a car navigation system.
Two years later the brand again won a Car of the Year title, this time for the popular, well-equipped Mazda 626. In 1998 the world was introduced to another fine model, the Mazda 323.
With the arrival of the 2000s came another hit from the Japanese maker, the Mazda MX-5 Roadster, which some time later made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for its enormous popularity.
Today Mazda builds a wide variety of vehicles across many segments, from compact cars to SUVs. All of them stand out for their refined style, quality construction and excellent design.
Yet not many people who know Mazda today are aware that the company traces its roots to a business that made and processed ordinary cork.
Mazda Motor Corporation is now a Japanese automotive giant with a worldwide reputation and sales in 120 countries. The company builds passenger cars as well as trucks, minivans and buses. Mazda Motor Corporation is a separate division within the Sumitomo financial and industrial group. Its headquarters is in the famous Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The company's birth is dated to 1920, when a small cork-processing business was founded. Seven years later it was renamed Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd., a name that stayed with the Mazda brand until 1987.
Four years after that, in 1931, the company released its first vehicles: three-wheeled trucks, which were in enormous demand at the time. Over the next quarter century, more than two hundred thousand of them were built and sold.
The first passenger car arrived in 1960. It was the R360 Coupe, powered by a two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 356 cc (21.7 cu in). The car made no claim to the premium class, or even a hint of luxury, but it was simple, affordable and practical, and that turned out to be what mattered.
In 1962 came the Mazda Carol 600, the company's first four-door car. Two years later the first generation of the famous Mazda Familia (800/1000) appeared. That same year the company began expanding into the American market, and then, in 1964, moved into Europe.
In 1967 the first Mazda rotary engine appeared. That same year the company signed a cooperation agreement with the Korean company Kia. The new venture was quite successful, so in 1979 Mazda signed another cooperation agreement, this time with the American automaker Ford. Ford acquired a quarter of Mazda's shares.
A year later Mazda released an all-wheel-drive Mazda Familia, and that same year the car won a Car of the Year title.
By 1981 Mazda had grown its U.S. sales so much that it had to open a separate subsidiary there, Mazda North America, Inc. In 1990 the Eunos Cosmo rolled off the assembly line, the first car equipped with a car navigation system.
Two years later the brand again won a Car of the Year title, this time for the popular, well-equipped Mazda 626. In 1998 the world was introduced to another fine model, the Mazda 323.
With the arrival of the 2000s came another hit from the Japanese maker, the Mazda MX-5 Roadster, which some time later made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for its enormous popularity.
Today Mazda builds a wide variety of vehicles across many segments, from compact cars to SUVs. All of them stand out for their refined style, quality construction and excellent design.
What next