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Mazda taps Americas head as CEO to raise game in its biggest market

TOKYO — Mazda has named the head of its Americas operations as its next president and CEO after its current chief steps down in June, as Japan's fifth-largest automaker seeks to boost profitability in North America, its biggest market. The company said on Friday that Masamichi Kogai will step down and be replaced by current vice president Akira Marumoto, who now oversees operations in the Americas. The changes are effective June 26 after Mazda's annual shareholders' meeting. Mazda, which has global annual sales of around 1.6 million vehicles, has enjoyed a run of rising vehicle sales, expanding in markets particularly in North America, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of total sales. But as one of Japan's smaller automakers and a tiny player globally, it faces growing competition in the United States, where market growth has slowed, and where the company's profitability has sagged due to higher discounting and slowing demand for sedans. The maker of the MX-5 Miata roadster and the reputed Skyactiv gasoline engines also faces higher costs to stay competitive in an industry which is being disrupted by new technologies, including self-driving cars and electric vehicles. Marumoto, a 38-year company veteran with a background in engineering who described himself as having a "strict" work ethic and admitted to being "short-tempered" at times, previously led Mazda's corporate planning and product strategy divisions before heading its Americas operations. He said that growing sales and improving profitability in the North American market would be his biggest priority, along with expanding the company's brand image as an innovative car maker. "Given the rapid changes occurring in the auto industry at the moment it's often asked whether a small company like us will be OK," Marumoto, 60, told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo. "But before we even consider this we need to show our strengths, and what makes us different if we want to grow our brand." Kogai, who became Mazda's president and CEO in 2013, will be following the footsteps of his two immediate predecessors who also held the top job for five years each. He will still be with the automaker and become its chairman, the company said. Earlier this year, Mazda announced that it would invest in a new, $1.6 billion plant in the U.S. state of Alabama as a joint venture with Toyota.

10 automakers shack up in Detroit hotel to talk Takata airbags

Since Takata has decided not to take the lead concerning potential issues with its airbag inflators, the automakers have. Perhaps that's unsurprising, since it's the automakers, not Takata, that will take a beating on the dealership floor if consumers decide its models are a health hazards. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru met in a hotel conference room near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last week to sort out a way to understand the technical issues involved. So far, faulty airbag inflators have been ruled the cause of five deaths and 50 injuries around the world, but neither Takata nor investigators understands exactly why the inflators are malfunctioning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently asked Takata to issue a national recall, Takata declined, citing a minuscule failure rate and the fact that it's still investigating the issue. Toyota and Honda then made an industry-wide appeal for "a coordinated, comprehensive testing program" that would pinpoint the problem inflators and get them replaced, and that's what the Detroit meeting was about. Numerous issues, however, will make this a long row to hoe: simply getting the parts to replace the nearly 20 million inflators in cars recalled around the world so far - even working with other suppliers - will take a years, but more importantly, no one knows if the replacement inflators currently being installed will suffer the same issue. Answers will hopefully come quickly with Takata, the ten automakers and NHTSA all independently investigating the problem.

Mazda could electrify the next Miata, is trying to figure out how

The next Mazda Miata is at the embryonic stage of development. The men and women in charge of the project are debating whether to electrify the roadster, or if it's better to keep it true to its roots. The Miata is not a high-volume model in any market, so it doesn't need a plug to help Mazda comply with looming emissions regulations. The company explained it's not a matter of compliance; it's about how the definition of a sports car and the expectations of motorists could change in the 2020s. "The preferences of people who enjoy driving sports cars might be changing, so we need to think about what direction society is going in. We want to look at the best powertrain to keep the vehicle lightweight, but because of the diversifying requirements and preferences, we need to explore various options," Ikuo Maeda, Mazda's global design director, in an interview with Autocar. Adding any degree of electrification to the Miata beyond a relatively basic mild-hybrid system is easier said than done. An unusually low weight and a compact footprint defined the original model introduced in 1989, and these attributes continue to characterize the fourth-generation car (pictured) sold in 2019. Electrification requires batteries, batteries add weight and require space, and Mazda doesn't want to end up with a 3,000-pound Miata, or one that's the size of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Convertible. Keeping its chassis balanced is a delicate task, too. Overcoming this challenge is not impossible, however, and batteries are expected to become lighter and smaller during the 2020s. The next-generation Miata isn't expected out until the middle of the 2020s, so Mazda has time to figure out whether it should go hybrid, arrive as an electric car, or carry on with a rev-happy, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine. Maeda stressed a final decision on the matter hasn't been made yet. "I don't have the answer right now, but we need to make a vehicle that people can own without worrying that they are not being eco-friendly," he concluded.