Owned by Mazda Motor Corporation, they built production model vehicles, became involved in motorsports development, and offered performance parts and accessories.

[citation needed] They competed in numerous events at home and abroad, and they were also competitive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans races in the early 1980s, with the 717, 727, and 737.

[4] Mazda Motor Corporation assumed control of Mazdaspeed in 1999 as a tuning and performance parts operation within the company.

[citation needed] The Japanese market Mazdaspeed Familia utilized a naturally aspirated FS-ZE 2.0L engine with higher compression and a revised camshafts to produce 173 hp (129 kW) at 6800 rpm.

Mazda soon realized that these high performance models could be successful outside of North America and would make the next vehicles available worldwide.

The Mazdaspeed3 was introduced for the 2007 model year — which, with 263 bhp (196 kW; 267 PS) and 280 lb⋅ft (380 N⋅m) of torque — was the most powerful vehicle in its class.