Mazda6 milestone shows how Japan beats Detroit

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Mazda6 milestone shows how Japan beats Detroit

05:56 AM

One of the reasons that Japanese automakers have seen so much success in the U.S. is that they stand by their models -- generation after generation. Case in point: Mazda, which just produced its two millionth Mazda6 worldwide.

It took eight years and six months to reach the milestone. But it marks the second fastest time to hit two million. First? That was the smaller Mazda3. Contrast the longevity of the Mazda6 and 3-- or Honda Accord and Civic or Toyota Camry and Corolla -- with most models from Detroit. The Big 3 are constantly change model names, forcing them to reeducate consumers each time a new one rolls out. Often they have little choice, having let a nameplate go downhill with little updating until it stands for little more than "worn out" to buyers.

The midsize Mazda6 was fully redesigned in 2007, and is probably due for another update. It is made in Japan, Michigan and China.

"Mazda6 is one of the core models which helped establish Mazda's brand image globally," said Seita Kanai, Mazda's senior managing executive officer in charge of R&D and Program Management. "I'm grateful to the two million-plus customers around the world who have purchased a Mazda6."

link:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/09/in-eight-years-mazda6-hits-2-million-global-milestone-/1

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Congrats, Mazda! Two millionth Mazda6 rolls off the line

by Jeff Glucker (RSS feed) on Sep 10th 2010 at 7:59AM

Milestones and goals are great things to strive for in life. Mazda just reached a pretty impressive one with their mid-size Mazda6. The two millionth example has just rolled off the assembly line. It took the Japanese automaker eight years and six months to get here.

Production began on the first generation Mazda6 back in 2002 and it served to give the Zoom-Zoom campaign a major push. That first-gen car was redesigned in 2007 (the changes arrived in the US in 2009) and a third generation will be arriving soon.

Take a look at the gallery and you can see that the why-so-serious mug has been toned down. The style is more mature without losing the subtle aggressiveness found in the rest of the lineup. The future looks bright for the Mazda6. Now if we can just get them to bring over the wagon and the Mazdaspeed6 we could push them to three million units even faster.

link:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/10/two-millionth-mazda6-rolls-off-the-line/

[the_yellow_dart]

While this is true for some, it's definately not for others. I'm pretty sure that a few of GM's model names have been around longer than Mazda has been in North America.

[Robert Hall]

Meh..though they have been called Mazda6 and Mazda3 for a couple generations, they were also renames of previous models--the 626 and Protege (which was previously the 323 and before that the GLC). Bad examples.

The Accord (35 years), Civic (38 years), Camry (28 years) and Corolla (40+ years) would have been better examples for the NA market...

As far as the domestics, Suburban is the longest-lived name, I think, followed by Corvette and Mustang (Impala and Malibu are older than Mustang, but have had gaps).

Edited September 10, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar