First Shift: Mazda taps Americas chief as new CEO

"Mazda Motor Corp. named Akira Marumoto its next chief executive officer to lead a revival in earnings growth in the face of a slowing U.S. market.

Marumoto, an executive vice president who heads operations in the U.S., will replace Masamichi Kogai after the change is ratified at an annual shareholder meeting on June 26, Mazda said Friday. Kogai will become chairman following a five-year tenure in which he orchestrated deeper ties with Toyota Motor Corp. Both of Kogai’s most recent predecessors as CEO also served five-year terms."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ng-toyota-ties

 

Is this good or bad?

 

Par for the course.
I think the last two people to hold that position did it for 5 years as well.

 

i think it depends on whether this guy is a cost cutter or a money maker. I think he probably had a hand in the decision making over the US Mazda/Toyota plant and this seems like a move to make sure someone who is familiar with the market is at the helm to shepherd it into existence. So Im betting on money maker. Which is a good thing.

 

I'm guessing the chance we ever see another high performance sports car / sports coupe from Mazda is now pretty much zero.

 

Define "high performance".

Mazda never had any production cars that will snap your neck. The fastest Mazda until now from the factory is the FD RX-7(low 5s in 0-60 times), with MS3 and MS6 being up there. But even then, those are not on par with American muscles.

Mazda has always followed the Colin Chapman philosophy, so while the Miata may not be fast in a straight line, it can beat a lot of cars that are considered "high performance" on windy roads.