The Mazda3 - Two Million Models Later

Down through the years, many car models are born with the hopes that consumers will widely embrace them. After all, when an automaker pours hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars to launch a new model, they would like to see a return on their money.


Among the popular cars which have reached super stardom are the Volkswagen Beetle, the diminutive family car which traces its origin all the way back to Hitler's Germany, the Toyota Corolla the best selling car of all time with more than thirty million units produced since being introduced in 1966, and the Honda Civic, a perennial best seller in Canada for ten years running.


Mazda may also have a legendary hit on its hands in the form of its compact Mazda3 (sold as Axela in Japan), a car that has already seen sales top two million units after just five years of production. What's more, even in a tight economic climate, the model is selling more cars this year than last, a trait that has continued ever since the Mazda3 was launched in 2003.


Part of Mazda's success with its most popular model - more than one in three cars sold by Mazda is the Mazda3 - is that the automaker is relentless in marketing the car. Now sold in 101 countries, the Mazda3's appeal is found in its sporty good looks, abundant safety features, excellent fuel economy, and low price. Indeed, few small cars manage to look so attractive while costing so little: with a base price of around $15,300, the car offers a much more complete look than what most cars in its class.


A new Mazda3 made its worldwide debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2008, a four door sedan. In December 2008, a five door hatchback will make its debut at the Bologna Auto Show, a model based on the Mazda Kiyora concept. Along with the MazdaSpeed3 model, the new 2010 cars will likely keep the Mazda3 as one of the top selling compact cars in the world - great news for a generation of car buyers who appreciate the Zoom-Zoom look of Mazda.


Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in Cary, North Carolina. Matt is a contributing writer for Andy's Auto Sport an aftermarket supplier of quality parts including custom carbon fiber hoods and intakes.

Mazda Motor Corporation

The Mazda Motor Corporation is an associate company of the Ford Motor Company and is headquartered in Fuchu, Aki, Hiroshima, Japan. A handful of Mazda vehicles have been rebadged and sold under the Ford name in the United States. The founder of the company is Jujiro Matsuda who founded Mazda in 1920. In 2007, Mazda manufactured close to 1.3 million vehicles for worldwide distribution. They employ close to 40,000 people and their revenue has reached almost $4 billion. Mazda has produced millions of vehicles since its founding in 1920 and has become a world power in vehicle manufacturing over the past two decades.

As with many businesses and car manufacturing companies, Mazda has changed its logo as the years have progressed. The very first logo for Mazda was designed and used from 1962-1975.

The company's second logo was used from 1991-1992:

From 1992-1997 the company's logo looked like this:

The company's current logo, which debuted in 1997, is this:

Mazda has produced more than 50 different models of cars since its inception in 1920 and one of its most popular models has been the Mazda Miata. The Miata was first developed in 1989 and is still being manufactured today. The Miata is in the Roadster class and is assembled in Hiroshima, Japan.

There are three generations of the Mazda Miata. The first generation was from 1989-1997, the second generation was from 1999-2005 and the third generation began in 2006 and is presently still developing vehicles. The Mazda Miata is available as a Roadster and as a Hardtop and the most recent models are available with 5-speed manual transmission, 6-speed automatic transmission and a 6-speed manual transmission.

Aside from their production of sports cars and compact cars, the Mazda Motor Corporation has also been trying to develop their own hybrid car for the past couple of decades. Towards the end of the 2008 calendar year Mazda is scheduled to release its very first hybrid vehicle. It is named the Premacy Hydrogen RE and it is a compact minivan. The first few prototypes of the vehicles have shown developers that it can travel up to 120 miles on hybrid energy.

Mazda, as with the majority of other vehicle manufacturing companies, has thrown its hand into the racing world as much as possible over the past few decades. Mazda first debuted in the racing world in 1968 when they competed in the Marathon de la Route. They entered two of the same vehicles, the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S. The race lasted 84 consecutive hours and one of the vehicles finished in fourth place and the other lost an axle after the 81st hour of the competition. The Mazda Motor Corporation still races their sport vehicles today and have been racing continuously since their racing debut in 1968.

The Star Mazda Series is one of the most popular lines of racing cars manufactured by Mazda and is the most popular when it comes to sponsorships. This line of cars debuted for racing in 1991 and is a part of the Formula Mazda Racing team.

Automotive Performance Parts – a Way of Increasing Efficiency

What are Performance Parts? First you should know this. Performance Pats are mostly engine and surrounding parts, which is used to get better fuel mileage and more horsepower from your vehicle. These Performance parts are made by using advance technology. These Performance parts can easily increase your vehicle efficiency.
There are many types of Performance parts which are used these days. These Performance parts are available for every vehicle. Some of the common performance parts are:
- Air Intake System – Air Intake System are designed for every vehicles. These systems are beneficial in many ways such as for increasing horsepower, for increasing throttle response and for increasing efficiency for more mpg. By doing this your vehicle’s engine will be come more responsive.
- Stainless Steel Muffler – These mufflers are made up of high quality T-304 stainless steel. This special quality steel resists rust, corrosion and heat. By using this muffler you can get deep throaty exhaust tone by putting the pedal to the metal. It can add 8-15 HP more. And 8-12 TQ also.

- Power Performance Speed Chip – This is most important thing in enhancing and upgrading a vehicle. These special Power Performance Speed Chips is designed by highly specialized R&D staff for your exact model and make. These Power Performance Speed Chips serves only one purpose and that is to increase the output of an engine in a safe way and without expending too much money behind it. The Power Performance Speed Chip has many benefits also such as it increase in power up to 50 HP, faster acceleration time, it increases engines efficiency and it also extends life of spark plug and the engine too. These chips come in fully adjustable mode and are unique for every vehicle.
- Performance Fuel Ionizer – These Performance Fuel Ionizers are just made for increasing the fuel economy. Anyone can increase the fuel economy by 25%, just by using this Performance Fuel Ionizer. These Fuel Ionizers are made up of high quality Neodymium – The Earth Magnets. These magnets get mixed with the molecules in gas and improve the overall combustion. Due to this engine gets more optimal and efficient burn and hence good mileage.
- Iridium Spark Plugs – This high performance Iridium Plugs can prove more than 8 HP on various vehicles. In this set you will find various types of spark plugs specially made for your vehicle model and engine. Till now Platinum was used in spark plugs because it is more durable but not most. Iridium is 8 times stronger, 4 times harder and it has a melting point of 1200 degrees. And this quality put it over Platinum. This gives long life to the spark plugs. The smaller size of Iridium electrode with the tapered ground electrode, allows more room to flames for producing more efficient combustion. With an Iridium Spark Plug you can travel up to 120,000 miles. Many big automobile companies such as Lexus and Toyota are using this technology in their new models.
All these things together makes a perfect combination of Performance Parts and if you are using all these parts in your vehicle then nothing can stop your vehicle from giving better performance, high efficiency, fuel economy and more power. And the acceleration rate will also increase. All you have to do is to choose the right performance parts for your vehicle. Many big automobile companies may advice you not to use these performance parts and there is a reason for this advice. The reason is that automobile companies will never prefer using performance part which is made over their technology by some other companies. If this happens then no one is going to replace their vehicle parts with the companies produced parts which are extremely expensive. So it is on you to decide which part will be best for you, a cheaper of best quality or an expensive one.