2013 Mazda Mx-5 Miata Club Hardtop Power Convertible 6 Speed Manual on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mazda 787B and Vision Gran Turismo tower over Goodwood in 131-foot sculpture

Mazda is being honored at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed by getting the space to create the event's annual sculpture outside Goodwood House. Given this year's theme of "Flat-out and fearless: racing on the edge," the Japanese automaker is showing off two of its racers at the very top of an intertwined spire that rises over 131 feet above the motoring event. The statue's design is the work of artist Gerry Judah, and it's made from over 132 tons of steel, including 418 beams, towering over the event. A Mazda 787B, the only Japanese car to ever score an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the company's LM55 Vision Gran Turismo concept are featured at the very top. Spectators can certainly get a good view of the racers, too, because the sculpture twists to actually hang the cars above visitors. "Gerry has faithfully expressed our brand in a striking and beautiful structure that is clearly Kodo. There is a lightness and strength to the sculpture, yet it gives the cars movement and energy," said Ikuo Maeda, the General Manager of the Design Division at Mazda, in the announcement about the statue. Each year, Goodwood selects an automaker to create an artistic piece with the brand's vehicles outside of the estate's manor. Mazda shares some very prestigious company in being picked, too. Often rising high into the sky, in the past we've seen outstanding work from Audi, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, and Porsche. Goodwood celebrates Mazda's motorsport heritage Mazda is the subject of the central feature at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed Immense sculpture features Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B and LM55 virtual racer Goodwood / Leverkusen, 25 June 2015. Mazda's racing heritage is the centre of attention at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The central feature of the annual motoring event is a spectacular 40-metre high sculpture in front of Goodwood House featuring two Mazda racers bursting into the sky on a twisting track of steel beams. Inspired by Mazda's KODO – Soul of Motion design, the creation of artist Gerry Judah conveys a grace and agility that disguises the complexity of the installation, which is made from 120 tonnes of steel. Each of the 418 steel beams is stacked at a different angle, curling the structure so that the cars at the top actually hang over the spectators below.

Japanese automakers ramping production for renewed American sales

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan took quite the toll on the automotive industry in that nation. Not content to lean on that tragedy as excuse for slagging sales, the Japanese automakers are planning on a major production expansion in North America. The aim is to reclaim the market share lost from the Tsunami-based dip, and overcome a dollar/yen exchange rate that makes exporting to America unprofitable.
Following the Tsunami, Japanese automakers ramped up production in their North American facilities to compensate, but according to Automotive News, Nissan, Honda and others have all reported plans for still-further increased production in the year ahead. As part of this ramp-up, Mazda will open a facility in Salamnca, Mexico before March of 2014. Part of that increase in output is 50,000 units of a Toyota-badged compact car, which Mazda will produce.
Other Mexican production facilities opening include a Honda plant, which will open in Spring 2014 in Celaya, and a Nissan plant, set to open later this year in Aguascalientes. Nissan also said that it will need another plant in North America within the next five years. According to Nissan Boss Carlos Ghosn, the company aims to raise its stake in the US market from 8 percent to 10, and adding production will help achieve that goal. Even Mitsubishi is aiming to boost production at its Normal, Illinois plant. Production of the Outlander Sport is currently at 50,000, which Mitsubishi wants to raise to 70,000.

Mazda planning 'aggressive' dealer shakeup

Mazda has set an ambitious goal of selling 400,000 units by the end of the 2015 Japanese fiscal year in March 2016, and to do that, it's going to need to take some aggressive action. That means that underperforming members of its 637-showroom strong dealer network are about to get the axe.
The purge won't just be limited to dealers that aren't performing, though. Mazda will seek to consolidate poorly located dealers and build new showrooms in better locations. It still isn't clear how many dealers are being targeted or at what point Mazda would end its cull.
This consolidation of dealers is all part of a one-two punch for the Japanese brand, that will also see increased marketing efforts in 35 key areas. Of those markets, Mazda is placing a special emphasis on New York and LA, although there's not much mention of what other regions are being looked at.