AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/17 Report--

On March 17th, Mazda announced a major personnel change on its official website.

Mazda announced a management change. Mao Long Shenghong, a 62-year-old executive director, will be promoted to president, while 65-year-old president Akira Maramoto will act as an advisor. Mazda has changed its president after five years. Mazda said the decision would take effect after the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in June.

According to relevant data, Maolong Shenghong was born in 1960 and is now 62 years old. He has been engaged in marketing-related work since he joined Mazda in March 1983. In April 2002, he was promoted to Deputy General Manager of Mazda Global Marketing headquarters, and in August of the same year, he was promoted to General Manager of Mazda Global Marketing headquarters. In 2004, Maolong Shenghong became vice president of Mazda Motor Europe Co., Ltd., and became president of Mazda North America in 2016. In June 2019, Mao joined the board of directors of Mazda as senior executive officer, head of North American operations, and chairman and chief executive officer of Mazda Motor Company of the United States. In June 2022, Maolong Shenghong returned to the headquarters of Mazda in Japan as a senior executive officer, in charge of communication, public relations, brand business sustainable development and other areas.

In addition to announcing personnel changes, Mazda also announced plans for a large-scale corporate restructuring. The original Business Strategy Office, Commodity Strategy headquarters and Redd Technology Management headquarters are integrated into Business Strategy headquarters and Redd Strategic Planning headquarters. Among them, the trial department of Redd has been transferred to the technical headquarters, hoping to re-create a team with the primary goal of electric power, so that production and sales can be directly integrated. In addition, in order to cope with the changes in the Chinese market, the functions of the China business headquarters have been transferred to Mazda China Enterprise Management Company and Changan Mazda. The original China Business headquarters, China Business Promotion Department, China Marketing Department and China Market support Department have all been abolished.

As we all know, Mazda previously had two joint ventures in the Chinese market, FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda, and Mazda's business in China changed dramatically in 2021. FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda merged in August 2021 to form (new) Changan Mazda. On August 24, 2021, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd., Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd., and China first Automobile Co., Ltd. issued a joint statement saying that (new) Changan Mazda was changed into a joint venture jointly funded by the three parties. Changan Automobile, Mazda and FAW own 47.5%, 47.5% and 5% respectively. On August 30, 2021, FAW Mazda officially released its last tweet, officially announcing that it had withdrawn from the stage of Chinese automobile history.

From the sales data, the merger of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda still did not bring sales improvement to Mazda. Relevant data show that after the merger of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda, the sales of Mazda in China from September to December 2021 were 16428, 15291, 14754 and 14590 respectively. In 2022, Changan Mazda sold 104032 vehicles, down 21.43% from the same period last year.

The poor sales of Mazda in China may be related to the slow updating of its models and the discontinuation of production of CX-7, Mazda 6, Mazda 8 and Mazda 6 Rui Wings in China. Relevant data show that in 2017, Mazda achieved a remarkable sales record of 309400 vehicles. However, sales have been declining year by year since 2018. Mazda sold 272322 vehicles in China in 2018, falling to 227750 in 2019, 214574 in 2020 and 183953 in 2021, down nearly half in five years.

In the context of Japanese car companies Toyota, Honda and Nissan are all aggressively marching into new energy, Mazda, as a Japanese car company, has finally begun to speed up the electrified layout. As early as June 2021, Mazda released new technologies and product strategies for 2030. In terms of electrification, Mazda plans to launch five hybrid models, five plug-in hybrid models and three pure electric models in Japan, Europe, North America, China and ASEAN. Mazda plans to make up 40% of pure tram products in 2030, and is expected to complete the technical layout by 2024. In 2025, Mazda plans to focus on the battery field, hoping to develop a new car model with a new concept of motor and gearbox combined with E-Axle electric shaft. pure electric products will be launched as soon as 2028. It is not known whether Mazda, which is speeding up the electrified layout, will succeed in boosting sales this time, but in view of the increasingly fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, it is not easy for Mazda to revive sales in China.

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