Mazda

[Music] When you get rid of the pistons and the rods and the valves and the cam shaft, you get a whole new picture of what motoring is all about. Mazda's rotary engine. It has only three moving parts, each in perfect balance. With themselves and with you. Mazda, the car that's revolutionizing the industry. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Ward's Automotive Reports predicts that by 1980, 85% of all cars sold in the United States will have rotary engines. Virtually every major automobile manufacturer has announced interest in producing rotary engine vehicles. Today, Mazda is a resounding success. But only a few years ago, it was just another untried, unproven import, trying to crack the tough American market. We started operations of Mazda Motors of America back in January of 1971. We were in a little warehouse off the San Diego freeway. We had a couple of rented desks and a couple of rented typewriters. Mr. Dick Brown, general manager of Mazda Motors of America, and I saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to establish a dealer organization that would be second to none in the industry and to do it starting from scratch. One evening in early January, I sat down with Bill Shaw, our first district manager, and we started by asking ourselves, what would we like to see in a dealer organization based on our experience in the car business? And with that premise, we started to write at 10:00 one evening. And by 4:00 the next morning, we had completed the writing of the Mazda dealer standards. And we've held to those standards ever since. In February of 71, we moved to larger quarters, and we began to recruit the staff, which we have today. We first set up dealer training programs for both service and sales, and began working on the advertising and promotion to announce this remarkable new car to the public. Mazda Motors of America introduced the Mazda in California in May of 1971. They had at that time 27 dealers. In the first 2 days following the introduction, 86,000 prospects visited the showrooms. Americans had been waiting a long time for a real change. Until now, the big changes in cars occurred only on the outside. But today, that's no longer true. A change has taken place under this hood that will revolutionize the way cars are powered. It's called the rotary engine. Its design is based on the circle, nature's most efficient and perfectly balanced form. Man early adopted circular motion to his own needs. And over the years, engineers produced many designs, searching for an engine that would develop power directly from circular motion. In 1959, Felix Wonkl, a German engineer, announced a breakthrough. Toyo Kio, manufacturer of the Mazda automobile, saw promise in the early design and in 1961 concluded a licensing agreement. During the next 6 years, Toyota Kio invested 90,000 man-h hours, tested 500 different designs, produced 200 new patents to finally develop in 1967 the world's first mass-produced rotary engine. Toyota Kyo was wellqualified to develop the engine. They've been building automobiles for 40 years. They're the third largest car manufacturer in Japan. In addition, they make machine tools. This enable them to develop the special machinery required to build the rotary engine. Practically every aspect of plant operation is under computer control. It's one of the most advanced automobile factories anywhere. The Mazda rotary engine is an ensemble of circular motion. The only moving parts are an eccentric shaft and two rotors. The eccentric shaft is circular. The rotors are segments of circles. The engine housing is shaped by moving a smaller circle around a larger circle. In conventional internal combustion engines, pistons and rods are needed to rotate the crankshaft, adding weight and creating vibration. Complicated valves and cam shafts are required to control the intake, compression, power, and exhaust functions. The Mazda rotary engine eliminates the pistons, rods, valves, and cam shafts, thereby eliminating the friction, the weight, the noise, the vibration, and the maintenance costs that go with them. The rotors serve as intake and exhaust valves. And as the rotors revolve, they create chambers for the intake, compression, power, and exhaust functions. A smooth, continuous motion, producing the same power yet half the size, half the weight of a piston engine delivers high performance on low octane gasoline. The rotary engine offers greater promise of cleaner air than any automobile engine sold in America. Over 300,000 Mazda rotary engine cars have been produced and sold in 80 countries around the world. Quieter, smoother, more economical, cleaner, better performing, more reliable. [Music] The Mazda with the rotary engine is not just another new car. It's a new era. The entire auto industry has been working on projects aimed at reducing air pollution caused by cars. General Motors, for one, is experimenting with the WLE engine, which is already in use overseas. ABC Science editor Jules Bergman reports. GM won't show its version of the Wonk engine, but it's already here and running in a Japanese compact, the Mazda, which is now going to be marketed across the country after first being tested on the West Coast. The WLE is quiet and smooth with almost no vibration when it's standing still, accelerating, or cruising at turntight speeds. There's none of the boiler plant clatter of most small car engines. Even when the engine is opened up all the way under the hood, even with all the anti-pollution devices and air conditioning, the smallalness of the Wonkle for its 120 horsepower stands out. 250,000 are on the road, and it offers the promise of holding back inflation with lighter, smaller, less costly cars. This is Jules Bergman, ABC News. Road Test Magazine writes that no car tested by us in road test 7 years of existence has been more trouble-free than the Mazda. The Los Angeles Times says the Mazda rates far better than average on emissions of harmful pollutants. Fortune magazine calls the Mazda a car that may reshape the industry's future. Playboy magazine reports that at 100 mph, the RX2 engine presence sensation is comparable to a Cadillac. Newsweek reports it accelerates like a jack rabbit. Car and Driver says, quote, "The car is built like a watch." The Mazda has become the most talked about car in America. 18 months after Mazda Motors of America introduced the car, it was out selling nationally. Fiat, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, Colt, Cricut, MG, BMW, even though the Mazda was only being sold in 21 states. Mr. Brown, the most unique thing about our marketing plan is that we plan to cover the entire United States with a total of 655 dealers. Now, that's only half as many as our closest competitors. By having fewer dealers, this offers each dealer a higher volume and profit potential, while at the same time, it allows us to give each Mazda dealer better service. Well, Mazda doesn't plunder you with cars. You don't have the flooring cost, the interest rates. Mr. Sid Wasserman, Mazda dealer in Huntington Beach, California. And it's kind of nice to be able to have a truckload come in and a half or two/3 of the truckload go right out. Really, it's the first time you can walk up to a customer, to a soul customer, and look him in the eye, and ask him just how good his car runs and how happy he is with it. We've had next to zero as far as customer complaints, which is very nice. The Mazda owners themselves are probably the best bird dogs in the world because these people are very satisfied. People come out of these cars after driving them a little bit. They are just amazed at the response because they haven't driven anything like it in a small car anywhere and anytime the last 6 months we've out delivered Toyota Dodson and DW dealers here in Huntington Beach. It's a different ball game. It's a much easier cell. Credits and everything is entirely different than dealing with the domestic buyer. More financially sound. And of course the automobile itself, it's a troublefree car. This also prevents repossessions. Mr. Pete Savage, Mazda dealer, Monrovia, California. I'm constantly amazed with some of the automobiles that are traded in on Mazda. They run the gamut. Toyotas, VWs, Cadillacs, Pontiacs. It's interesting to note that we're out selling all imports in our town and that includes Toyota, Volkswagen, and Dudson. You just don't become a Mazda dealer that quickly. Requirements are certainly rather stringent, but a good dealer welcomes this. And I felt rather complimented to be accepted by Maza because I knew the company I was running with. What I would consider some of the best dealers in Los Angeles were selected as Maza dealers and they certainly had enough to choose from. Mr. Bill Shadel, general manager, Sacramento, California. The only thing we have to do is put the mats and the rugs in, balance and check alignments. Our PDI takes us about 2 hours per car. This is amazing to me. After being in a domestic car business, our income picture has been beautiful. Several months out of this year, I've outprofit our Chevrolet dealership. They have five times the facilities to do the job. We're averaging over $500 per car. In 1970, there were 2,000 Mazda vehicles sold in the United States. In 1971, there were 20,000. In 1972, we're projecting 60,000 units. And by 1975, we're confident that our 655 dealers can retail 300 to 350,000 units. In 1973, Toyota Kio, the manufacturer of Mazda, will build over 700,000 units. That's more than twice as many as American Motors. In volume, it's bigger than the Dodge division of Chrysler Corporation. It's larger than Lincoln Mercury, Buick, Cadillac, Pontiac, or Ozemobile. And so from a car built in Japan, and a marketing strategy created in a rented warehouse in California, a course has been set that will influence the direction all automobiles will follow for years to come. We have just completed the establishment of new branch offices and parts depots in Chicago and New Jersey. In each of these facilities, we have the capacity to warehouse over $3 million in parts inventory. These new facilities give strong proof that we're planning for a big future at Mazda Motors of America, Mr. Morawa, our president, Mr. Ozawa, our executive vice president, and myself, and of course, the many competent executives which comprise our management team. There's good reason for our optimism. At the present time, Mazda products appeal to only 35% of the total industry in the United States. That 35% is a small car segment. But the exciting thing is that industry sources project that by 1975, this segment will increase to 50% of total industry. In addition, Mazda is looking at other segments of the market, meaning the medium car segment and the specialty car segments. Add these two markets to the rapidly expanding small car market and the profit and sales potential for Mazda and Mazda dealers appears unlimited. Ladies and gentlemen, Mazda has come to the east. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]