- Started in 1920 as Toyo Cork Kogyo Company
- Dished out legendary sportscars like the Miata and the RX-7
Any car enthusiast would be happy to hear the Mazda brand. Even if you aren’t nuts about cars, and you are into gaming, Mazda is still a popular brand in a bunch of car racing games. Now Mazda did not start off as a manufacturer of cars, in fact it began in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Company and eventually ventured into the world of transportation with the three-wheeled Mazda Go in 1931.
While they began with quite a few cars, for us enthusiasts the legendary names rolled out in 1978 with the RX-7 and the MX-5 in 1989. The manufacturer went on to win Le Mans in 1991 with the 787B, the first-ever Japanese automobile to do so. It was only in 1984 that the company finally changed its name to the Mazda Motor Corporation. Today, Mazda is one of the world’s most established car makers, offering products with enough levels of premium to compete with some European nameplates.
“Mazda originated as a company producing cork and then took the path to manufacturing automobiles. Now, our cars have found friends with many customers from over 130 countries and regions,” Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto said in a statement.
