2002 Mazda Mpv Lx Standard Passenger Van 3-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mazda has right mix to chase 120,000 more US sales

The Mazda MX-5 Miata was named to Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for the eighth year in a row and for the fourteenth time overall. The CX-5 tops or comes in as runner-up on every AOL Autos staff poll we take on compact crossovers. The Mazda3 is a perennial favorite among auto critics. That's three clear, unquestioned winners in the Mazda showroom. So, why does Mazda seem to struggle sometimes for recognition and clarity in the marketplace?
For that, I chatted with Mazda North American Operations President, Jim O'Sullivan, who has run the outfit since 2003. O'Sullivan, a former Ford sales and marketing executive who came to Mazda from Dearborn, MI when Ford owned a controlling stake in Mazda, is one of the quieter, but very menchy, leaders in the industry whose longevity in the job speaks to the stability of Mazda.

Mazda's new Mexican plant capacity rises to 230,000

After the turmoil of last year, 2013 is getting off to a much better start for Mazda. The company has issued a release indicating that the forthcoming plant in Salamanca, Mexico has had its production capacity raised even though it isn't scheduled to go online until March 2014. The original plans called for a 140,000-unit capacity, 90,000 of that allotted for the Mazda2 and Mazda3, the remaining 50,000 for a small car Mazda would build for Toyota that would be based on the Mazda2. The new plans call for raising that by 90,000 units to a total of 230,000 units within two years, by the end of March 2016, and it looks like it will all go toward Mazda production to satisfy growing demand for Skyactiv vehciles. The Mexican plant's opening will be the return of Mazda manufacturing to North America, after Mazda6 production was moved back to Japan last year.
More good news for the company is that it projects 10 billion yen ($114 million) in net income for the financial year that will end in March. That would be a welcome turnaround from the 100-billion-yen loss in the previous financial year, part of a series of three annual losses in a four-year span.
You'll find the press release with the factory update below.

44 Miatas engaged to spell happiness from above

We've seen all manner of ways to propose marriage, from the usual candlelit dinner to the Jumbotron at the big game. A friend of ours recently proposed with his a barbershop quartet singing backup. But this has to be a new one - and one that automotive enthusiasts would probably find even more touching than a sky-writing biplane.
A member of the Miata.net forum recently asked other MX-5 enthusiasts to help him pop the big question to his bride-to-be. He got 31 Miatas together and needed just four more, but after appealing to his fellow roadster fans, over 40 turned up in the parking lot at the local high school.
The groom-to-be runs an aerial photography business and used an unmanned drone which his girlfriend thought would be shooting some local real estate properties when it flew over the parking lot and captured the image you see above with 44 little roadsters spelling out "Marry Me?" The answer, in case you were wondering, was a resounding "Yes!" How could she not, after all, when those Mazda convertibles are just so darn adorable? Now they'll just need to figure out what they'll be driving to the chapel on the big day.