Mazda Motor Corporation (マツダ株式会社, Matsuda Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan.

[16] The Mazda lettering was used in combination with the corporate emblem of Mitsubishi Motors, which was responsible for sales, to produce the Toyo Kogyo three-wheeled truck registered trademark.

[17] Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, most notably the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle.

(NSU and Citroën both gave up on the design during the 1970s, and prototype Corvette efforts by General Motors never made it to production.)

As American buyers (as well as those in other nations) quickly turned to vehicles with better fuel efficiency, the relatively thirsty rotary-powered models began to fall out of favor.

Combined with being the least-efficient automaker in Japan (in terms of productivity), inability to adjust to excess inventory and over-reliance on the U.S. market, the company suffered a huge loss in 1975.

Introduced in 1989 to worldwide acclaim, the Roadster has been widely credited with reviving the concept of the small sports car after its decline in the late 1970s.

The cooperation had begun in 1971 when the Mazda B-Series spawned a Ford Courier variant for North America, a version which was later offered in other markets as well.

Mazda's Bongo and Titan cab-over trucks were sold with Ford badging in mainly Asia and the Pacific region beginning in 1976.

[26] These included large and small efforts in all areas of the automotive landscape, most notably in the realm of pickup trucks and smaller cars.

However, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available from the start as a 4-door or 2-door model) instantly became the best-selling sport-utility vehicle in the United States and kept that title for over a decade.

At the same time, he started taking control of overseas distributors, rationalized dealerships and manufacturing facilities, and driving much-needed efficiencies and cost reductions in Mazda's operations.

Wallace was succeeded by James Miller in November 1997, followed in December 1999 by Ford executive Mark Fields, who has been credited with expanding Mazda's new product lineup and leading the turnaround during the early 2000s.

Ford's increased influence during the 1990s allowed Mazda to claim another distinction in history, having maintained the first foreign-born head of a Japanese car company, Henry Wallace.

Amid the world financial crisis in the fall of 2008, reports emerged that Ford was contemplating a sale of its stake in Mazda as a way of streamlining its asset base.

[37][38] The following day, Mazda announced that, as part of the deal, it was buying back 6.8% of its shares from Ford for about US$185 million while the rest would be acquired by business partners of the company.

[40] On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced its stake further to 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was believed to become its largest shareholder.

In early 1992, Mazda planned to release a luxury brand, Amati, to challenge Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus in North America, which was to begin selling in late 1993.

This selective marketing experiment was ended in the mid-1990s due to economic conditions, largely attributed to the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1991.

[52] On October 24, 2022, Mazda decided to get rid of assets in Russia, with the company transferring a stake in a joint venture in Vladivostok to Sollers JSC for 1 euro.

[57] Mazda is finding uses for biomaterials in its vehicles, including both plastics and fabrics made from corn starch, as it aims to become more environmentally-friendly.

Mazda introduced some of these innovations (bioplastic internal consoles and bio-fabric seats) in its Mazda5 model at EcoInnovasia 2008, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok.

In the racing world, Mazda has had substantial success with both its signature Wankel-engine cars (in two-rotor, three-rotor, and four-rotor forms) as well as its piston-engine models.

After the 1991 race, the winning engine was publicly dismantled for internal examination, which demonstrated that despite 24 hours of extremely hard use it had accumulated very little wear.

The Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda is a North American open wheel racing series.

Since 2006, the Atlantic Championship has been run exclusively with Swift 016.a chassis powered by Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2300 cc (2.3L) DOHC inline-4 engines producing 300 bhp (224 kW).

The Spec Miata (SM) class is intended to provide the opportunity to compete in low-cost, production-based cars with limited modifications, suitable for racing competition.

Spec RX-7 is also a popular club racing class primarily due to the availability of first-generation RX-7 cars and the low startup cost.

[67] Extremely successful and long-lasting (when compared to other automotive marketing taglines), the Zoom-Zoom campaign has now spread around the world from its initial use in North America.

The original version, performed by Jibril Serapis Bey (used in commercials in Europe, Japan and South Africa), was recorded long before it became the official song for Mazda as part of a soundtrack to the movie Only The Strong (released in 1993).