Mazda : Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan. Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles.

The Ford Motor Company had owned 15% of Mazda, and its stake was increased to a 33.4% controlling interest in 1996 when 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.
The first RX-7 released in 1978 would be a strong image leader for Mazda, but actual sales revival would not come until the early 1980s.

• The company formally adopted the Mazda name in 1984.
• The year 1960 was the birth of Mazda as an automaker.
• The first four-wheel car, the Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda Carol in 1962.
• Internationally, the 1970s were the heyday of Mazda as a performance leader. The Wankel rotary engine outperformed their piston-based competitors by a large margin.