It actually never was born. It was supposed to be a luxury brand similar to the Acura/Honda, Infiniti/Nissan, Lexus/Toyota branding. But alas, it died before it was ever born.

The only car ever to come out that would have used that brand was the Mazda Millenia which was actually made by Mazda till a few years ago.

Anyone know why or what. I would imagine Mazda could have made an extensive lineup for this brand and even had used a 3 rotary engine in a high end sports coupe. One did actually exist in Europe under the Cosmo name in the 90s that got 300HP but because of the power delivery, it mandated an automatic tranny.

Could someone shed some light on this obscurity?

 

lack of interest and no money.

 

What's the deal with the Afini brand in Japan? I often see 'Mazda Afini' dealers mentioned in news releases from Mazda Japan...

 

I was hoping for a more in depth answer. But alas this may be the ONLY answer, eh.

 

The 929 was also to slot above the Millenia in the lineup. 1995 was the tightest year for Mazda--they had the Miata, MX3, MX6, RX7, 626, Millenia, 929, MPV, and truck--they may have also had that Explorer/Navajo.

 

They were gearing up for that division right when the Japanese economy tanked in the early 1990's, they even had a V12 in the works. Combine that with Mazda's financial troubles, it was easy to see why they killed it off.

Size and production capacity is also a issue. I think Mazda is better off just raising the preception of the brand as a whole. Most of the world has a rather good opinion of Mazda, in fact, I bet the U.S. has the lowest just because of lack of brand awareness. I think that is changing quicky.

 

Probably a better bet anyway not to have a separate luxury brand. IMO I think most (not all) Lexus are just Toyota branded and styled to those who like to throw money out the window.

Seems that the Lexus is the bling bling auto around here (along with Cadillac Escalade).

The RX-8 does stand out a unique car compared to many of the offerings out there.

 

I did some research on the Cosmo and there were 3 rotor cosmos in Austrailia putting out a lot of power. Why wasn't that car available here? Sometimes I think we get the short end of the stick. Just gos to show you what America's all about...SUVs

 

the idea of the mazdspeed cars is to have a hi performance "brand" instead of a luxo brand.

 

In Australia Mazda release a range of luxury vehicles at that time and established
separate dealers/showrooms for the range.

The brand was called 'Eunos'
Just re-badge Mazda's

The Eunos 800 with Miller Cycle engine as an option...now called Mazda Millenia.

MX-3 was badge under Eunos also.

The Eunos name only lasted about 5 years.

Financial considerations were the main reason that Mazda discontinued with any
further worldwide rollout of a luxury segmented product.

The Cosmo 20B was never sold new at any Mazda dealer in Australia.
Some used Japanese Cosmo's were imported by their owners.
Perhaps it never made the US because of extra costs converting to LHD,
EPA regulations at that time.
As far as I know it was only ever a domestically (Jap) sold new vehicle.
Before the 20B the Cosmo name was used in the RX-4 and RX-5 in Japan.

 

eunos was sold in japan as well. it was established when the original miata came out, which was sold as the eunos roadster back then. eunos was kind of a premium mazda brand back then, most notable models besides the roadster were the cosmo, 500, and 300, all of which i think were some of the most elegant japanese designs. and then there was also the efini (or anfini) brand, which was the sporty mazda brand. the fd was launched under this brand. other models included the ms-6 (626), ms-8, and ms-9 (929). and then there was also the autozam brand, which only had the az-1, the gull-wing mid-engined micro sports car. this one didn't sell well at all. on top of that, there was xedos in europe. the millenia was solde as the xedos 9 there. as for the "anfini dealers" in japan, i guess they still exist and operate, maybe kinda like honda verno

i think mazda got to diversify their products a bit thru these brands in japan but went a little overboard. had they launched amati, it might have done more harm than good i think, 'cuz besides the 929 they didn't really have any rwd sedan platforms, meaning they couldn't've competed w/ lexus and they'd just turn into some kind of an acura alternative, and i'm not a big fan of the acura brand. given the state of mazda's financial affairs in the 90s, and the pulling out of the fd from the us market, they really weren't in a capable position to launch a new brand. and when ford intervened and saved it from sinking, i'm sure the amati thing was the among the first to axe to cut costs. so there you go. intringuing isn't it

incidentally, efini is some kind of a weird french or some other romantic language script for infinity. its logo was really cool, a triangular shield (a rotor) shaped infinity sign. but of course it wouldn't work here 'cuz there was already the infiniti brand. and amati, i think, has it roots in a really old and famouse violin maker

 

so you are all saying it was money?

 

Your dog looks just like mine :D

 

Interesting REsuperD.

I agree, I think they bit off more than they could chew, it was the fashion in Japan to have multiple brands names.

Ford Australia actually first invested in Mazda in the early 80s, it was 25% along with the Sumitomo Bank which still has a large share I am sure, after the 70s oil crisis which almost killed Mazda off partly due to the rotary"gas guzzlers".

Just before then the founding father of Mazda, Mr. Matsuda who owned Toyo Kogyo Co Ltd
(Mazda) died, and at an old age.

In the 90s Ford increased its share to the now 34% with a few board members and ceo.
In Australia 34% is not a controlling interest (51% is) , not sure about Japan or USA.

 

mazda was a small company compared to toyota nissan and honda, didnt have the financial resources and backing from stock holders to take that kinda risk. Mazda and Mitsubishi has always been considered 2nd tier japanese companies in terms of size and market share. If ford wnats to take a serious bite out of the big 3 japanese sales, they need to start by investing increasingly more money into mazda and ride the japanese technology, R&D and quality and incorporate them into ford platforms.

 

If my memory serves, Mazda pulled its plans for a Amati luxury line at the last minute because of plain economics. The car maker was just doing very poorly in the '90's and could not sustain a separate luxury line of dealerships. The Millinia was suppose to be the first of a highend luxury line of cars and there was talk of selling RX-7s under the Amati name in the US. But then everything started going down hill for Mazda and they just scrapped their plans. In the late 80's, Mazda started to create different divisions like Eunos and Efini etc. to improve their brand image. But ultimately this kind of branding failed as well and all the cars reverted back to just being plain old Mazdas.

 

Actually up to the very late 70s Mazda was always no 3 in vehicle sales behind Toyota and Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi fought out 4th spot.

Right now Mazda have been advertising and hiring many more staff to keep up to international demand.

Mazda moved into the Chinese market in 2000 and so far this year 70.000 sales, and the Rx-8 has been just released.

I just hope this mad oil pricing does not kill off our loved rotaries..again!
Because of China's massive demand on gas the world can not refine enough.
So, why not build more oil refineries?
Nearly $70 US a barrel up from 30 a year ago is BS....thanks China!