Mazda, a car company, has been established for over a hundred years, but it is not as glamorous as other large Japanese car manufacturers. Instead, it has been on the verge of being small, fragile and financially tight.
Of course, as an enterprise that believes that it only needs to be recognized by 2% of consumers, Mazda can continue to operate for 1 years in the automobile world where giants gather, and its characteristics are: it is good at tapping car-making talents and seeking innovation, making up for its disadvantages in scale and sales volume with constant self-denial, and never letting rules and regulations limit its thinking.
It may be somewhat showy to describe Mazda in this way, but since this Japanese manufacturer has entered a new stage after one hundred years and is facing changes in the industry, Mazda has to spread its slightly paranoid entrepreneurial spirit more than before, and spy on opportunities in the high-cost global competition of self-driving, electrification and internet cars.
1
Survival crisis and rotor past events
Mazda has experienced many survival crises in the past 1 years, but the most influential one is undoubtedly the day on August 6, 1945 when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the headquarters of Mazda.
that day happened to be the birthday of Jujiro Matsuda, the person in charge of Mazda at that time. However, in this nuclear explosion, both Jujiro Matsuda and his eldest son, Tsunami Matsuda, miraculously survived, while his second son, Song Tian Zongmi, was unfortunately killed.
Along with Song Tian, Mazda's predecessor, Toyo Cork Industry Co., Ltd., survived.
a little more experienced Mazda fans may be interested in Mazda's previous dealings with cork bottles and kettles, and the first car Mazda? GO is familiar with the past events such as hanging the Mitsubishi logo because it has no production qualification. The key point here is that the Mazda brand has existed since the 193s, but it was not until 1984 that the company officially changed its name to Mazda Motor Company (Mazda? Motor? Corp.)
After the war, Mazda launched the Type-CA, which completed the repositioning of the company. In 1951, Jujiro Matsuda handed over the right to speak to his eldest son, Tsukiji Matsuda, and died in 1952.
Type-CA? 4-Wheel? Truck
after taking over the company, Tsunami turned his attention to the field of Volkswagen consumption. But building a car is not easy. Mazda's first passenger car R36? Coupe didn't announce the shipment until 196. It was a small and light mini-car, but the price was close to the people and reasonable. It even provided an automatic gearbox, which was once very popular.
R36? Coupe
and Mazda's various innovative ideas sprouted from this period.
You know we are going to talk about the rotary engine, which is the spiritual label of Mazda. Today, many young people still think that Mazda is the inventor of the rotary engine.
There is not much to say about the past. Mazda signed a technical agreement with Germany's NSU company in the early 6' s and obtained the authorization of the rotor engine patent, and then applied it to the products. During this period, the rotor engine went to the altar, and there were two important nodes:
One was the Cosmo introduced by Mazda in 1967. Sport-the brand's first model with a rotor engine, a stylish and attractive coupe.
Cosmo? Sport(11s)
Another car is the 787B racing car, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991, giving Japanese brands a long face.
that is, from this time on, when talking about Mazda, there will definitely be a rotary engine. In fact, since RX-8, the rotor engine has bid farewell to the rivers and lakes. Young people have never seen it, touched it or driven it, but they still talk about it. Moreover, Mazda has never planned to give up the rotor engine. This year happens to be the centenary. If this symbolic powertrain is resurrected, it will not take off today with the development of social networks!
Watch carefully, if a large number of "tears" appear on the network next! Don't be surprised by self-media articles such as "The Final Resurrection of Rotor Engine".
2
Ford and Toyota, take over and help
As mentioned earlier, Mazda is headquartered in Hiroshima, far away from Tokyo, the political and financial center of Japan, and has not been favored by capital in the past. Especially after World War II, competitors spent a lot of money to develop technology and expand the market, but Mazda's business mode has always been to do big things with small money. This business policy has made Mazda taste the sweetness of high efficiency and "enhance creativity."
However, it is one thing to have an innovative corporate culture. Cakes can be painted, but if there is no sustainable profit, it is not desirable.
since the 197s, Mazda has been troubled by its financial performance for a long time. At this time, Ford bought 25% of Mazda's shares, and in the mid-199s, when Mazda was in financial crisis again, Ford increased its holding ratio to 33.4% again.
there is a saying that although Ford and Mazda are completely different in business philosophy, Mazda's face often shows the expression of "reluctant cooperation" after the merger, Mazda has accumulated valuable experience in the American market through Ford, and it is during this period that they created "? Zoom-Zoom "slogan.
The later story is closer to us. Ford chose to reduce its stake in Mazda during the economic crisis in 28, and in 215, the two sides officially cut it.
When Ford quit, many people in Mazda were worried about the prospect of independent operation, but Takashi Yamanouchi, the CEO at that time, realized that it was dawn and Mazda would have the opportunity to design its own destiny.
this idea is reflected in the product level related to consumers, the most typical of which is Chuangchi Blue Sky Technology and a series of vehicles with fun to drive.
of course, starting Solo mode is not as easy as Mazda imagined.
First of all, the development cost of new technologies is still high, and the greater harm lies in the limited improvement of consumers' brand awareness of Mazda. Today, Mazda is still a niche car brand in the world, even in the US market with the largest sales volume.
even worse, Mazda's cash flow has been declining for three consecutive years since 216. According to the financial report data, Mazda's net income and operating profit for the year ended March 31, 219 decreased by 6% compared with the fiscal year ended March 31, 215. Mazda predicts that in the current fiscal year ending March 31st, its net profit will drop by 32%, its operating profit will drop by 27%, and its global sales will stagnate at 1.55 million vehicles.
and Mazda's senior management and shareholders also understand that under the general trend that the major giants are rallying around to reduce their costs, if Mazda continues to remain small and maverick in this turbulent era, it will be tantamount to self-isolation.
developing new technologies means embracing new partners. One of the first things that Mazda does is to let its employees know what kind of company Mazda is and what kind of relationship Mazda should establish with the outside world in the next 1 years.
"My expectation is that under the premise of establishing cooperative relations with other enterprises, the outside world may still understand the uniqueness of Mazda well". Marubeni, the current CEO of Mazda, stressed in an interview with overseas media.
according to the opening situation of major markets this year, Mazda's performance is likely to decline further this year. The company has lowered its sales target to 1.5 million vehicles in fiscal year 22, and its limitations are undoubtedly realistic.
If it continues to maintain its brand recognition and unique sense, it is logical to seek the intervention and help of external forces at this time. Mazda executives have repeatedly stated that "we can't do everything alone, we must cooperate with powerful partners in depth and gain their trust."
This "strong partner" obviously refers to Toyota, which has unparalleled cost control ability. In 217, Toyota acquired about 5% of Mazda's shares to establish capital cooperation. They set up a joint venture factory in the US market and develop electric vehicle technology. At the same time, they plan to launch their own mass-produced pure electric vehicles to the market at this important node in 22. This cooperation has enabled Mazda to enter the Toyota faction, while companies in the same camp include Subaru, Suzuki and Daihatsu. The cooperation focuses and resources.
Mazda and Toyota's US$ 1.6 billion factory in North America will be put into production soon. This factory will increase Mazda's production capacity by 15, vehicles, all of which will be used to produce brand-new crossover products, which is an important part of its impact on the sales volume of 2 million vehicles per year.
however, Mazda has also planned its own route, such as betting on the unique powertrain and brand high-end, hoping to differentiate itself from Toyota, Honda and other brands in the civilian automobile market.
in European and Japanese markets, a new generation of Skyactiv-X engine with outstanding power data and thermal efficiency has been available, while Mazda's brand-new inline six-cylinder engine is also under development, and there are also rotor engines that have been rumored to be revived. Mazda plans to introduce it into future extended-range electric vehicles.
choosing to invest limited funds in R&D and brand building is obviously an expensive and risky choice for an automobile brand whose sales declined in the US and China markets last year, but Mazda seems to have no choice. After all, the North American market and the China market are there, so we have to give it a try.
"If we can't remain unique in terms of products, technology, price and customer experience, but choose to follow in the footsteps of others, I'm afraid Mazda will hardly survive."
Writing | Yuan Mengquan
Picture | Network
Editing | Atractylodes macrocephala
Revising | Lan Qingqing
This article is from the author of ChejiaNo. in car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.