100 Years of Mazda
Mazda began in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co Ltd, renaming itself as ‘Toyo Kogyo Co Ltd’ in 1927. Yes, it made cork sheet before moving into manufacturing machine tools in 1931.
Financial troubles led to more rethinking and with the help of Hiroshima Bank and industry leaders, the company got back on its feet by making a motorized tricycle called the ‘Mazda-Go’ (model name ‘DA’) and trucks using the Mazda name, as well as munitions during World War II.
Founded in Hiroshima, well away from other major Japanese car manufacturers, the company is still based in the southern city today and takes a similarly
