Mazda was founded in 1920 in the name of "Toyo Kogyo", producing machine tools. In 1931, it started producing 3-wheel truck, but cars came as late as 1960, when R360 Coupe was launched.
From the very beginning of its car operation, it started working on rotary engines (licensed by NSU and Dr. Wankel). Toyo Kogyo knew if they did not have a unique technology, they could have been absorbed by other car makers under the guidance of Japanese government. Therefore during the 60’s and early 70’s they worked hard to improve the rotary engine and eventually making it for mass production.
Their first saloon was launched in 1962, and the brand name "Mazda" had been chosen. 5 years later, the first rotary car, Cosmo coupe, was launched as a small scale production bounded in Japan. The coupe version of the Familia saloon, R100, gained the rotary engine next year. Attack to the US market started in 1970, and rotary engines found prosperity there - 8 years later, the one millionth rotary car was produced. That year also saw the introduction of RX-7.
Following several energy crisis, the hope of rotary-engined mass production cars broke, leaving only the niche RX-7 sports car carried on. Mazda’s fortune in the US also left with the rotary. In 1979, Ford acquired 25% stake in Mazda, starting a joint venture in the US to produce cars for both firms. That venture, AutoAlliance, produced Probe and MX-6 and today still builds Cougar and 626.
In 1984, the company name was formally renamed to Mazda. The trio of saloons, 323, 626 and 929, worked well in the 80’s to push Mazda’s sales up. Before the breakage of bubble economy, Mazda decided to expand its models to premium car market, in other words, following the route of Acura, Lexus and Infiniti. That created Xedos in Europe and Eunos in Asia, both brands share the same cars - the smaller Eunos 500 (Xedos 6) and bigger Eunos 800 (Xedos 9, or Mazda Millenia). Now as you know, the breakage of bubble economy led to the failure of this ambitious project, causing heavy loss and eventually had to seek help from Ford. The latter increased stocks to a third and took the effective control of the Japanese car maker. The independence of Mazda has gone.
Old Jap's never die...'cos some clotheads keep bodgin' 'em back together...
