Sunday, August 1, 2010
Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920 manufacturing machine tools. In 1927 it was renamed Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. and shortly after started manufacturing vehicles, the first being a three-wheel truck, the Mazdago, in 1931.
Mazda's first car, the Mazda R360 Coupe two door passenger vehicle, came out in 1960, with the four-door Mazda Carol appearing in 1962. The next year, Mazda's car production topped one million. During the 1970s, Mazda successfully entered the North American market, and financial difficulties during the 1990s saw Ford take a controlling interest in Mazda in 1999.
Mazda cars have a reputation for looking and feeling different from the mainstream, thanks in part to their use of Wankel - or rotary - engines in certain models. During the 1960s, Mazda cooperated with NSU's Felix Wankel - who gave his name to the engine - in Germany to introduce rotary-powered vehicles and this continues to the present day with the RX-8.
The company claims that: "Everything we do is daring, ingenious and fun. Our cars all have that extra-special 'Zoom-Zoom' factor: sports-inspired design and motoring in their soul,". This is reflected through the full range of current cars from the all New Mazda2 Supermini to the Mazda BT-50 pick-up.