2010 Mazda 3 s 5door Sport \u2013 Instrumented Test \u2013 Car and Driver
Mazda Motor Corporation typically called simply Mazda, can be a Japanese multinational automaker operating out of Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, virtually all which (nearly one million) were created in the company's Japanese plants, with all the remainder from a variety of other plants worldwide. In 2015, Mazda was the fifteenth biggest automaker by production worldwide.Mazda began as being the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Hiroshima, Japan, 30 January 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927. In the late 1920s this company had to be saved from bankruptcy by Hiroshima Saving Bank along with business leaders in Hiroshima.In 1931 Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles using the introduction in the Mazda-Go autorickshaw. Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for your Japanese military through the Second World War, particularly the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle. The company formally adopted the Mazda name twenty six years ago, though every automobile sold from the start bore that name. The Mazda R360 has been available since 1960, and then the Mazda Carol in 1962.Mazda Cosmo SportBeginning within the 1960s, Mazda was inspired because of the NSU Ro 80 and chosen to put a significant engineering effort into development on the Wankel rotary engine as a means of differentiating itself off their Japanese auto companies. The company formed a company relationship with German company NSU and began with all the limited-production Cosmo Sport of 1967, and continuing to the day with all the Pro Mazda Championship, Mazda is one of the sole manufacturer of Wankel-type engines to the automotive market, largely by way of attrition (NSU and Citroën both lost the fight on the design through the 1970s, and prototype Corvette efforts by General Motors never made it to production.This effort to get attention to itself apparently helped, as Mazda rapidly started export its vehicles. Both piston-powered and rotary-powered models made their way world wide. The rotary models quickly came into common use for their blend of good power and lightweight weight in comparison with piston-engined competitors that required heavier V6 or V8 engines to make the same power. The R100 and also the RX series (RX-2, RX-3, and RX-4) led send out export efforts.During 1968, Mazda started formal operations in Canada (MazdaCanada) although Mazdas were observed in Canada who are only 1959. In 1970, Mazda formally entered the American market (Mazda North American Operations) and was very successful there, going as far as to create the Mazda Rotary Pickup (based about the conventional piston-powered B-Series model) solely for North American buyers. To this day, Mazda remains to be the only automaker to possess produced a Wankel-powered pickup. Additionally, it's also the only marque to get ever offered a rotary-powered bus (the Mazda Parkway, offered only in Japan) or station wagon (from the RX-3 and RX-4 lines without a doubt markets). After nine numerous development, Mazda finally launched its new model within the U.S. in 1970.Mazda's rotary success continued prior to the onset from the 1973 oil crisis. As American buyers (in addition to those in other nations) quickly looked to vehicles with better fuel efficiency, the relatively thirsty rotary-powered models started to fall out of favor. Combined with being the least-efficient automaker in Japan (regarding productivity), inability to adapt to excess inventory and over-reliance around the U.S. market, this company suffered a huge reduction in 1975. An already heavily indebted Toyo Kogyo was about the verge of bankruptcy and was just saved throughout the intervention of Sumitomo keiretsu group, namely Sumitomo Bank, along with the companies subcontractors and distributors. However, this company had not totally turned its back on piston engines, mainly because it continued to provide a number of four-cylinder models during the entire 1970s. The smaller Familia line especially became essential to Mazda's worldwide sales after 1973, as did the somewhat larger Capella series.Mazda RX-7 (first generation)Mazda refocused its efforts generating the rotary engine a choice for that sporting motorist rather than mainstream powerplant. Starting using the lightweight RX-7 in 1978 and continuing while using modern RX-8, Mazda has continued its dedication to this particular unique powerplant. This switch in focus also resulted within the development of another lightweight performance car, the piston-powered Mazda MX-5 Miata (sold because Eunos and then Mazda Roadster in Japan), inspired from the concept 'jinba ittai'. Introduced in 1989 to worldwide acclaim, the Roadster has become widely credited with reviving the concept on the small performance car after its decline inside the late 1970s.