Mazda
When it comes to automotives, there is no doubt that Japanese car makers are way ahead of the game. Before the global market dominance of the Toyotas and the Hondas, there was Mazda first. Mazda is just one of the many Japanese car technologists that are offering many innovations and interesting car features in the market. No one can underestimate what the car brand has been able to prove and achieve in the past several decades since its establishment.
As a company, Mazda was started in Hiroshima in Japan in the year 1920. The original name of the company was Toyo Cork Kogyo Co Ltd. As a start-up, the business was not originally a car maker but a maker of manufacturing equipment. There are theories about the real origin of the word. Mazda, as a word, is said to originate from the name of the founder Jujiro Matsuda. Other historians and experts claim that the word was taken from Ahura Mazda, which was the transcendental lord of the Zoroastriaism religion.
Linguists claim that the word Mazda typically comes from a word in the Avestan language, which is based on sincerity and a great rapport with the audiences. In the language translation, researchers claim that the word Mazda means ‘wisdom' giving the word more insight and symbolism for the Japanese culture.
As a full-pledged and very developed vehicle, Mazda focused on car manufacturing in the 1960s. Within that decade, Mazda cars evolved from being a 16-horsepower small car into a sports car with a distinct Wankel engine. The Mazda Cosmo was the car model that resulted from that great and striking evolution.
The car brand entered into the American market in 1970. That was two years after Mazda made waves and sold like hotcakes in Canada. During that time, Mazda was the most sought-after and biggest selling Japanese car in North America. Thus, it is safe to assert that Mazda paved the way for American and Western car buyers to start loving Japanese car brands that are proven to be highly reliable and fashionable at the same time.
In the 1990s, pat of the Westernisation of Mazda as a company, the car maker was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Because of that, the ownership structure of the company also changed. Foreign investors, particularly US-based car makers, started accumulating stakes in Mazda. Thus, Ford Motor Company started owning a significant and controlling interest in Mazda. That relationship paved the way for a change in overall structure and a healthy cooperation and alliance between Ford and Mazda.
Thus, during these modern times, Mazda is seen not as an exclusive Japanese car brand but as a world-renowned global car name. Mazda cars are still one of the huge car brands. However, the name is already dwarfed by the bigger and more popular Japanese car brands. To date, Mazda now produces about 1.25 million cars every year. Mazda cars are now equally and actively sold throughout Latin America, North America, Europe and of course, it home market, Japan.
Original Authors: Manny
Edit Update Authors: RPN
Updated On: 21/06/2007
