Starting from 1958, Mazda began to set foot in the production field of small four-wheel trucks. 1959 Mazda produced more than 5,000 vehicles per month, and 1962 expanded to 20,000 vehicles. In the three years after 1960, Mazda's output ranked first in Japan. During this period, the production of vehicles gradually shifted from tricycles to four-wheeled vehicles (196 1 four-wheeled vehicles exceeded tricycles).
1960, Mazda launched the light vehicle "R360——COUPE", and began its course as a comprehensive automobile manufacturer. Subsequently, the "CAROL" series minivans were introduced. 1963 cumulative output exceeds 1 10,000 vehicles. The Familia station wagon designed and produced by 1963 and the Familia sedan designed and produced by 1964 enabled Mazda to complete the transformation from a light vehicle to a car. Familia series has played a great role in the growth of exports. At the beginning of Familia series production, Mazda began to design new cars. From 1966 to 1967, we began to use the latest equipment and computers to manage production reasonably, and built a simulation test site to simulate highway and global road conditions.
At the same time, Mazda also cooperated with Germany's NSU company and Bongker company in 1960, and began to study rotor engines, and in 1967, it produced the world's first sports car "COSMO" equipped with rotor engines.
In the late period of 1960, the environmental pollution problem in Japan became more and more serious. Mazda took the lead in producing cars with gas recovery devices (1966), and 1970, the United States passed the "Musk Act" to limit emissions. It is suggested that the exhaust emission value should be greatly reduced before 1975. Mazda actively carried out research and development, and took the lead in developing a car that met the 75-year emission regulations at 1973.
Mazda started exporting cars to the United States from 1970, and exported 1979 cars to the United States. Countries that started exporting spare parts in the1970s include Indonesia, Portugal and Tobago, Iran, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Kenya and other countries.
Mazda reached an agreement with Ford in 1969 to jointly produce automatic transmissions, and then began to provide finished pickup trucks to Ford in 197 1 year. 1979, the two sides started capital cooperation. Through good cooperation with Ford, Mazda's competitiveness in the international market has been greatly improved.
From the end of 1980s to 1990s, Mazda Company successively developed world-leading automobile systems such as speed sensing four-wheel steering system (4WS), Miller cycle engine and new three-way catalytic converter with its strong technical development strength.