Mazda
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Mazda

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Mazda

Mazda Motor Corporation (マツダ株式会社, Matsuda Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., a cork-making factory, by Jujiro Matsuda. The company then acquired Abemaki Tree Cork Company. It changed its name to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927 and started producing vehicles in 1931.

Mazda is known for its innovative technologies, such as the Wankel engine, the SkyActiv platform, and the Kodo Design language. It also has a long history of motorsport involvement, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with the rotary-powered Mazda 787B. In the past and present, Mazda has been engaged in alliances with other automakers. From 1974 until the late 2000s, Ford was a major shareholder of Mazda. Other partnerships include Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Suzuki and Kia. In 2023, it produced 1.1 million vehicles globally.

The name Mazda was derived from Ahura Mazda, the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom in Zoroastrianism, as well as from the surname of the founder, Matsuda.

Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, as a cork-making factory founded in Hiroshima, Japan, January 30, 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927. In the late 1920s the company had to be saved from bankruptcy by Hiroshima Saving Bank and other business leaders in Hiroshima.

In 1931, Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles with the introduction of the Mazda-Go auto rickshaw. The name Mazda came into existence with the production of the company's first three-wheeled trucks. Other candidates for a model name included Sumera-Go, Tenshi-Go, and more.

Officially, the company states:

Mazda comes from Ahura Mazda, the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom from the earliest civilization in West Asia. Key members of Toyo Kogyo interpreted Mazda as a symbol of the beginning of the East and the West civilization, but also a symbol of the automotive civilization and culture."

The company's website further notes that the name also derives from the name of the company's founder, Jujiro Matsuda. The alternative proposed names mean "god" (Sumera) and "angel" (Tenshi); both indicate Matsuda's strong interest in human faith.

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