As of 2006, the company is expected to produce 1.25 million vehicles per year, with sales evenly divided among Japan, Europe, Australia, and North America, followed by Latin America.

Name

The name of the company is supposedly derived from Ahura Mazda, the transcendental god of Zoroastrianism. It is also said that Mazda coincides with the anglicized pronunciation of the founder's name, Jujiro Matsuda, who was interested in spirituality, and chose to rename it in honor of both his family and the Zoroastrians. Mazda means "great wisdom" in the Iranian Avestan language. However, in Japanese, the company has always been pronounced and spelled as "Matsuda" leading many to believe that Mazda is really just a poorly anglicized version of the founder's name. (It comes to English by way of German, Mazda being pronounced Mats'da in German.)

History

Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Cork Koygo renamed itself to Toyo Koygo Co., Ltd. in 1927. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles, with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931. Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, most notably the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle. The company formally adopted the Mazda name in 1984, though every automobile sold from the beginning bore that name. The Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda Carol in 1962.

The Ford Motor Company had owned 15% of Mazda, and its stake was increased to a 33.4% controlling interest on 31 March 1999 after Mazda fell into financial crisis. Ford executive Mark Fields is credited with Mazda's turnaround. Ford has based many of its models on Mazdas, such as the Probe, late model (North American) Escort and Mercury Tracer, and the co-developed Escape/Mazda Tribute.

Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer, which Mazda sold as the 2-door only Mazda Navajo (1991-1994). Ironically, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available as a 4-door or 2-door) instantly became the best selling SUV and kept that title for over a decade. Mazda has used Ford's Ranger pickup as the basis for its North American-market B-Series trucks, starting in 1994 and continuing today. These trucks are manufactured in the US. They now use a Mazda-sourced 2.3L I4 instead of the old Ford Lima 2.3L I4. Both 3.0L(discontinued after 2007 model year) and 4.0L Ford V6s are available, as is 4-wheel drive and a 4-door (albeit with the clamshell style rear doors, not a true 4-door crew cab as offered by GM, Nissan, and even Ford with the Sport Trac).