Toyota Motor Corporation and Mazda Motor Corporation today entered an agreement to build a mutually beneficial long-term partnership. If all goes according to plan, according to today's release both companies will be able to leverage each other's resources and enhance their products and technologie…
First Subaru, then BMW rumors, and now Mazda?
If Toyota is so great why do they keep needing others to show them how to build a car we (enthusiasts) want to buy?
Few people realize that without Toyota, Porsche would be an extinct brand. Car & Driver did an article on this back in 1995.
In 1987, Shingijutsu was formed in Gifu (close to Nagoya), Japan. The founder, Yoshiki Iwata, was an original member of the Toyota Autonomous Study Group (a project team comprised of Toyota's subsidiary companies). This Study Group first developed Toyota's lean production practices (the Kaizen system). The study activities enabled Mr. Iwata to contribute in establishing the Toyota Production System (TPS) as a primary pupil of Mr. Taiichi Ohno (an originator of the TPS concept).
In January 1996, The New York Times published a full two-page article describing Mr. Iwata's contribution to the rehabilitation of the German sports-car manufacturer, Porsche. Porsche had asked Shingijutsu for consulting services after the company lost 240 million Marks in July 1993. Porsche's product line-up hinders straight production because the company produces few units of many different models of cars. The beneficial effects of the Kaizen were quickly and dramatically apparent: daily production increased from 40 to 80 vehicles. In 1995, Porsche successfully returned to profitability by implementing the Kaizen methodology that Shingijutsu had proposed.
That's exactly how I see both companies: one is stodgy and conservative to a fault and the other more frivolous and driver oriented.
I think Toyota is scared of Ford!
I would love to DD something like a Mazda6 with the reliability of a Toyota.
Yep, Toyota definitely has it more together than most when it comes to lean manufacturing. I took a full semester-long course in college based on Ohno's work and TPS. My hope is that it helps Mazda create even more awesome things.
Junkyard_Dog wrote: First Subaru, then BMW rumors, and now Mazda? If Toyota is so great why do they keep needing others to show them how to build a car we (enthusiasts) want to buy?
You have that backwards- Mazda wants to make cars that drivers want to own, but can't seem to make enough to sell to people who don't care. Which is why they were with Ford, and, IMHO, now team up with Toyota.
Ed- I'm sure Mazda appreciates you calling them heavyweights- and in the pure number of enthusiests cars- they are. But in the world of mass selling of cars, they are not that big. Toyota and GM (and kinda Ford) are on a very different overall level of car making in terms of numbers.
trucke wrote: I would love to DD something like a RX-9 with the reliability of a Toyota.
FTFY 
They said they need money to push rotary development (aka sugar daddy) so who knows....
I think it will be a good partnership between the two.
why are we all shouting???
because the idea of a Miata coupe Frisbee twin is shout worthy
I heard a rumor that the new Scion iA is going to be a 4 door Mazda 2.
Personally I'm all for it. I'm assuming that Toyota wants a piece of that lightweight manufacturing awesomeness that is skyactiv and Mazda wants some sales. I see no problem with Mazda having more funding and cars getting less fat.
(can haz RX9 now plz?)
bgkast wrote: why are we all shouting???
OUR TOP STORY TONIGHT: THE TOYOTA MR2 IS STILL DEAD
GOODNIGHT AND HAVE A PLEASANT TOMORROW
Personally I'm more worried about Toyota dumbing down Mazda's brilliance than the other way around. About the only thing that Mazda could do a lot better in my eyes would be to revive the RX-8 as the MX-8 and put a 300 HP turbo 4 in it.
In reply to Kreb:
Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking. Blanding out Mazda's lineup isn't going to be good for us...
Every time Mazda tries to "go more mainstream" they end up producing blandmobiles that not only don't Toyota buyers buy, but alienate the faithful and put them deeper in the hole. As long as the bills are being paid and the corporate jets keep flying, what is wrong with being the little guy that makes a few cars for a few people and doing it really well? If it means prices edge up a bit, I'm OK with that. Nissan tried it and had to be rescued by Renualt-and there is no worse fate than getting rescued by the French! 
trucke wrote: I would love to DD something like a Mazda6 with the reliability of a Toyota.
I would love to DD the Mazda6 wagon with an M/T. Guess I'll have to move to Europe.
Interesting.
irish44j wrote:trucke wrote: I would love to DD something like a Mazda6 with the reliability of a Toyota.I would love to DD the Mazda6 wagon with a Skyactiv Diesel and M/T. Guess I'll have to move to Europe.
fixed
drummerfromdefleopard wrote:irish44j wrote:fixedtrucke wrote: I would love to DD something like a Mazda6 with the reliability of a Toyota.I would love to DD the Mazda6 wagon with a Skyactiv Diesel and M/T. Guess I'll have to move to Europe.
THANKS!
Junkyard_Dog wrote: As long as the bills are being paid and the corporate jets keep flying,
Based on their record, they are not making enough. If you want to focus only on the small enthusiest market, you pretty much have to sell cars at a BMW/Audi price point. And Mazda is doing everything they can to not do that.
I don't see this as gloom and doom- I see this as the nice fact that Mazda has sold some kind of reasonable sports car since 1978. RX7, Miata, RX8, etc- something every single year. Nobody else has. IMHO, this partnership should allow that to keep going.
The 3 and 6 cars were not always fun- some of the 323's and 626's were boring as heck cars- so they can keep some of that. As long as they can satisfy the enthusiest market, they can do whatever else they need to.
Oh great so now everyone is going to make the same beige car? Diversity is what we need and toyota just needs to make a couple REAL sports cars (on their own, not knocking frsbrz but they are an identity crisis) thank god im too poor to ever worry about buying a new car.
I didn't realize what a relative pipsqueak Mazda is.
US sales 2014 (units of vehicles):
GM: 2.9 Million, Toyota: 2.4 Million, Mazda: .36 Million
Worldwide:
GM: 9.92 Mill, Toyota: 10.23 Mill, Mazda: 1.38 Mill, DongFeng: 1.19 Mill.
Mazda has only about 2% market share. Keeping the company "in the black" on their own is a really hard undertaking. Platform and factory sharing like they did with Ford could help defray a lot of costs and make them more viable. I can also see Mazda bringing a line of light trucks back into their showrooms.
Toyota potentially has access to an immensely talented design studio and engineers who know how to calibrate a car so that enthusiasts like us get excited.
I have often though of Mazda as the Alfa Romeo of Japan. A small producer of interesting cars that enthusiasts get excited about. Akio Toyoda (Current Toyota CEO)is one of us. Lets hope his forces help keep Mazda independent, interesting and fun.
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