Author: Chen Xi
On January 3th, 22, a new member was added to the century-old car club in the world, that is Mazda. As the 2th car company in the world with a century-old history, Mazda is also the second car company in Japan after Mitsubishi, 13 years ahead of Nissan, 17 years ahead of Toyota and 26 years ahead of Honda.
1? Founder of blacksmithing
In p>1875, Jujiro Matsuda, the founder of Mazda, was born in a small fishing village in Hiroshima Prefecture, which is now the headquarters of Mazda Company-Fuzhong Town, Anyi County, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
When I was a child, Jujiro's family was very poor. Because he had 12 children, his life was extremely stressful. In addition, his father died early, and Jujiro began to help at the age of 1. At the age of 13, Jujiro, who liked watching blacksmiths strike while the iron was hot since he was a child, resolutely decided to go out and strike while the iron was hot and support himself with his own hands.
In p>1888, Jujiro came to Osaka, Kyoto, and studied mechanical manufacturing technology in a blacksmith's shop. ）。 Four years later, Jujiro, who was a beginner, went to the naval factories in Wushi and Sasebo to engage in shipbuilding.
When it comes to Wushi and Sasebo, people who like the history of the Pacific War will probably immediately think of the two auspicious ships in old imperial japanese navy: Wugang Yukikaze and sasebo Shishui, which can be regarded as models of the dead teammates who never die and being original. Of course, this has nothing to do with Jujiro, because it was decades later.
To get to the point, with the work in the military factory, Jujiro gradually came up with the idea of opening his own factory. However, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and there is still a lack of start-up funds. At this time, the noble people in Jujiro's life appeared.
Higashiya, you must remember this man, because without him, there would be no Jujiro's later success, and there would be no Mazda today.
As a person in charge in the military factory, Higashiya Tsukiji, who has been engaged in casting for generations, believes that the future belongs to machinery, so he greatly appreciates Jujiro who works under him and is crazy about machinery, and recruits him as a son-in-law (similar to a son-in-law).
In p>1895, when Jujiro entered its twilight years, Dongwu Hengji invested to help it open its first factory, Dongwu Iron Works. Of course, all success can't be smooth sailing. Although Jujiro has a bright future, the factory was hastily closed in less than a year because of lack of management experience.
However, instead of blaming Jujiro, Higashiya encouraged the young man, so Jujiro, who was disheartened, regained his confidence and started his second study trip to Nagasaki. Here, he entered Mitsubishi Shipyard and was exposed to the most advanced technology in the world at that time, which laid the foundation for future success.
During his working days at Mitsubishi Shipyard, Higashiya often wrote greetings and urged him to go home to inherit the family business, but Jujiro didn't want to inherit Higashiya's candy house, so he proposed to Higashiya Higashiya to cancel the relationship between son-in-law and adopted son. After careful consideration, Higashiya not only didn't embarrass Jujiro, but also encouraged him to realize his ideal successfully.
Soon, Jujiro regained his confidence and decided to run a company again. This time, he opened the "Song Tian Manufacturing Institute" in Osaka to manufacture and sell the "Song Tian Pump" invented by himself.
Because of the previous experience, Jujiro's venture seems to be smooth sailing. Not only did it develop "Song Tian Manufacturing Factory" into a "Song Tian Pump Joint Venture" with others, but in the reconstruction process after Osaka fire known as "the Northern Fire", "Song Tian Pump" became a hot-selling product, which brought huge profits to the company, but also brought danger to Jujiro.
In order to acquire a company in Jujiro, someone instigated the insiders to betray, which not only almost put Jujiro in jail, but also made him see the company clearly, so he still left and re-established the "Song Tian Manufacturing Institute".
After many tests, Jujiro has also learned many experiences and lessons from the past. At the same time, with the outbreak of World War I, the new "Made in Song Tian" has also ushered in a once-in-a-century opportunity to produce artillery fuses for the Russian government. This opportunity not only enabled Jujiro to gain a successful foothold in Osaka business, but also created a beautiful talk of "one-night factory", and also transformed the new "Made in Song Tian" into a joint-stock company, with a thriving business.
However, Jujiro, who was too obsessed with technology rather than management, had a disagreement with senior executives on the relocation of the factory for the company's expansion and development. For this reason, Jujiro resigned again, returned to his hometown of Hiroshima, and once again lost the company he founded.
As the saying goes, the sky will drop to the people of Sri Lanka, and this must be the case first. Repeated tempering has already established a strong psychological quality for Jujiro, who has never been confused. After leaving Osaka and returning to his hometown, Jujiro also established a "Hiroshima Studio", but in 1919, he sold his shares to his partner and quit the company.
at this time, the curtain of Mazda, a century-old car company, is slowly rising.
2? Rebirth in nuclear explosion
In p>192, Jujiro, who was already famous in Japanese business circles, ushered in a turning point in his life-he entered Toyo Cork Industry Co., Ltd., which was the predecessor of Mazda. At this time, Toyo Cork Industry Co., Ltd. mainly produced and sold some wood-related products, such as red wine corks, hot water corks and so on, which was far from the familiar machinery manufacturing industry in Jujiro.
If this continues, Jujiro, where the iron is being struck, will probably become Jujiro, where the wood is being cut. However, God gave another chance. A world-class "Great Kanto Earthquake" and a fire made Jujiro decide to transform its business, so Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd., which removed the word "cork", began to produce a tricycle that was badly needed by Japanese society at that time, and the name of the first tricycle was "Mazda? GO”。
it is called "Mazda" because Jujiro worships Zoroastrianism god of light Ahura? Mazdā, and his surname Song Tian is pronounced as "Ma-Tsu-Da", which is very similar, so it comes.
“Mazda? GO "not only started Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd.' s car-making history, but also let the whole of Japan see" Mazda "through an experiential marketing that spans 2,7 kilometers from Kagoshima to Tokyo. GO "reliability, at the same time, the first symbolic trademark in Mazda's history began to be activated, and three layers of" M "stood for" Mazda? Motor? "Manufacturer", the shape extending from left to right also symbolizes the wings of seagulls, representing speed and flexibility.
It didn't last long. World War II broke out, and we all know what happened afterwards. Hiroshima, Japan welcomed a horrible guest-a "little boy". Fortunately, Jujiro miraculously survived the nuclear explosion, including his eldest son, Tsuji Matsuda (the third president of Mazda), but unfortunately, his second son, Song Tian Zongmi, died of the nuclear explosion.
The pain caused by the war made Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd., led by Jujiro, get rid of the military production and turn to produce all kinds of four-wheeled vehicles needed for post-war reconstruction. In June 195, "Mazda? CA "was born, which is also the first four-wheeled vehicle in Mazda history.
the following year, Jujiro handed over the burden of the company to his eldest son, Tsukiji Matsuda, and then died the following year at the age of 76. Today, there is also a bronze statue of Jujiro Matsuda carved by Japanese sculptor Yuan Ai Sheng San, who was also a plumber and was once written by Japanese Prime Minister Ikeda Hayato, which shows its position in the hearts of Hiroshima people.
Although Jujiro's era is over, Mazda, which was reborn in the nuclear explosion, has just emerged.
3? Technology is always innovation
In the president's office of Mazda's headquarters, there is a sign that says, "The one who shines in a corner is the land". This old saying from Spring and Autumn Annals is the motto of the third president of Mazda, Tsukiji Matsuda, and it is also one of Mazda's corporate ideas.
It is said that like a tiger, like a father, like a son. Since 1927, he has followed his father into Matsuda Hengji of Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd., and he is also full of interest in machinery. After taking over the post of president, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. not only made the original tricycle business bigger and stronger, but also began to enter the automobile industry in an all-round way. First, it manufactured the Romper four-wheel truck that was popular in Japan at that time, and then in 196, it launched the first car in Mazda history-R36? Coupe。
R36? Coupe is very in line with Japan's post-war national demand. It is equipped with a 356cc two-cylinder engine, weighs only 38 kilograms, can take two adults, and sells for 32, yen. As soon as it went on the market, it was highly praised and once occupied 6% of the market at the same level.
with R36? With the success of Coupe, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. made persistent efforts to launch the first four-door car Carol, global strategic cars Familia and Capella, luxury models Luce and Bongo, which not only became the third largest Japanese automobile manufacturer after Toyota and Nissan at that time, but also laid a good foundation for Mazda in the future. Among them, Familia and Capella later evolved into Mazda 3 and mazda 6 that we are familiar with.
in the 196s, the Japanese automobile market faced the first impact of foreign brands, and numerous small factories were either annexed or disappeared, so Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. could not stay out of it. Seeing the existence of the crisis, Tsunami decided to take a gamble and set his sights on the newly released Wankel engine, which is the famous rotary engine.
in February p>1961, Toyo industrial co., ltd., under heavy pressure, signed a contract with NSU car factory in west Germany (predecessor of Audi) and obtained the patent right of Wankel engine. Subsequently, at the behest of Matsuda Tsuji, 36? Coupe's chief designer, later the sixth Mazda President, graduated from the First Engineering Department of Imperial University in Tokyo, Japan, and was later called "the father of rotors" by Kenichi Yamamoto, who led 46 carefully selected engineers to form the research and development team of "Rotor 47 Brave Men" in the famous industry.
at the same time, Tsukiji Matsuda put forward the slogan of "technology is always innovative" for the first time in the company, which not only became one of the brand concepts of Mazda today, but also inspired the determination of the rotor research and development team, and finally successfully manufactured the world's first rotor in May 1967. Sport? 11S。 The following year, the second model with a rotary engine, Familia? Rotary? Coupe also came out immediately.
With the successful mass production of the rotary engine, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. not only grasped what belongs to itself, but also gained a reputation. It can be said that the foundation of Mazda today was founded by Yokota, and with the rotary engine, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. ushered in its heyday.
In p>197, Gengping Matsuda took over the leadership of the company from his father Tsuji Matsuda. Full of confidence in the rotary engine, he put this legendary engine into all the main models at that time, including Familia, Capella and so on.
however, the first oil crisis broke out in 1973, and the disadvantages of high fuel consumption of rotary engines were exposed, and the company's performance also fell into an unprecedented trough.
In p>1977, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd., which was in crisis, was reorganized under the leadership of Sumitomo Bank, the main bank, and Matsuda Gengping withdrew from the management of the company. His successor was Yoshiki Yamazaki, the director of the company's automobile manufacturing department.
At this point, the Song Tian era of Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. is over, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. is about to become a thing of the past, and the real Mazda era is coming.
4? In the era of famous cars,
Yoshiki Yamazaki, who was on the verge of death, did not disappoint. During his tenure, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. readjusted its vehicle strategy and only put the rotary engine on the performance car, which also prompted the birth of a world-class car RX-7.
RX-7 is a double-door rear-drive sports car. The original internal code was X65. It was developed based on SA platform and equipped with an improved 12A dual-rotor engine. In the first minor change in 1983, the Japanese version added a 12A turbocharged rotary engine, while the export version was equipped with the famous 13B-RESI rotary engine. RX-7, a three-generation model, was officially discontinued in 22, with a total production of 811,634 vehicles worldwide.
in addition to the RX-7, another achievement of Yamazaki Yoshiki is the successful FF of Familia and Capella (front-driver), among which the fifth generation Familia received a strong response as soon as it was launched, which not only won the first Japanese car of the year award, but also helped the company get out of the business crisis temporarily.
In addition, Yoshiki Yamazaki facilitated Ford's shareholding in 1979, which paved the way for Ford to enter Mazda in the future and save it in from the mire. In the last year of his resignation, Toyo Industrial Co., Ltd. was officially renamed Mazda Co., Ltd.
The Toyo industrial era officially ended, and the Mazda era officially came. After Kenichi Yamamoto, the "father of rotor", served as the transition president for three years, Gutian Dechang, the first airborne president in the company's history, came to Mazda.
At that time, faced with the wave of global trade liberalization, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan asked domestic automobile manufacturers to review the merger. In order to climb to the top three Japanese automakers, Gutian Dechang decided to implement multi-brand strategy and multi-dealer access, so Mazda had "Mazda" and "? Mazda? Up to five brands, including εfini, Eunos, Autozam and Autorama. Among them, Mazda's second world-class Roadster, namely MX-5, was born under the brand Eunos.
MX-5 is Mazda's first car developed with the concept of "integration of people and horses", and it is also a two-door and two-seat convertible FR sports car, and it is also the first car developed by fans in the world.
Mazda chose America as the starting place of MX-5 for the first time. Although it is a country of high-powered muscle cars with V6, V8 and V12 everywhere, the MX-5, with an engine displacement of only 1.6L and a front-to-rear weight ratio of 5:5, is a blockbuster with superb driving pleasure, and has brought the already lonely English trot back to the mainstream.
Although a large number of automobile companies including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Lotus followed suit, none of them could cover the limelight of MX-5. As Clarkson, a world-famous car critic, said, "Nothing that can run on the road can bring you endless fun like MX-5. The only reason why I give MX-5 a five-star rating is that I can't give it fourteen stars!"
5? Ford entered
Although MX-5 is well-known, although the 787B racing car helped Mazda become the only Asian automobile manufacturer in history to win the championship of Le Mans 24 Hours, but with