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Mazda6 2002 - 2012 Haynes Workshop Repair Manual

Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese automaker based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (almost 1 million) had been produced in the company's Japanese plants, with the remainder coming from a variety of other plants worldwide. In 2011, Mazda had been the fifteenth biggest automaker by production worldwide.

Mazda started as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931. Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, most notably the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle. The company formally adopted the Mazda title in 1984, though every car sold from the beginning bore that name. The Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda engines in 1962.

Beginning in the Mazda, 1960s put a major engineering effort into development of the Wankel rotary engine as a way of differentiating itself from other Japanese automobile companies. Beginning with the limited-production Cosmo Sport of 1967 and continuing to the present day with the Pro Mazda Championship, Mazda has become the single manufacturer of Wankel-type engines primarily by way of attrition and NSU both offered up on the design during the 1970s, and prototype Corvette efforts by General Motors never made it to production.)

This effort to bring attention to itself supposedly assisted, as Mazda rapidly began to export its vehicles. Both piston-powered and rotary-powered models made their way around the world. The rotary designs quickly became popular for their combination of good energy and light weight when compared to piston-engined rivals that required heavier V6 or V8 engines to produce the same power. The R100 and the famed RX series (RX-2, RX-3, and RX-4) led the company's export efforts.

During 1968, Mazda started formal operations in Canada (MazdaCanada) although Mazdas had been seen in Canada as early as 1959. In 1970, Mazda formally joined the American market (Mazda North American Operations) and was very successful there, going therefore far as to produce the Mazda Rotary Pickup (based on the traditional piston-powered B-Series model) solely for North American buyers. To this Mazda, day remains the only automaker to have produced a Wankel-powered pickup truck. Additionally, it is additionally the only marque to have ever provided a rotary-powered bus (the Mazda Parkway, offered only in Japan) or station wagon (inside the RX-3 & RX-4 line for US areas).

Mazda's rotary success continued until the onset of the 1973 oil crisis. As American buyers (in addition to those in other nations) quickly turned to vehicles with much better gas efficiency, the relatively thirsty rotary-powered models began to fall out of favor. An already heavily indebted Toyo Kogyo was on the verge of bankruptcy and was only saved through the intervention of Sumitomo Bank. Wisely, the company had not totally turned its back on piston engines, as it continued to create a variety of four-cylinder models throughout the 1970s. The smaller Familia line in particular became very crucial to Mazda's worldwide sales after 1973, since did the somewhat larger Capella series.

Mazda refocused its efforts and made the rotary engine an option for the sporting motorist instead than a mainstream powerplant. Starting with the lightweight RX-7 in 1978 and continuing with the modern RX-8, Mazda has continued its dedication to this unique powerplant. This switch in focus also resulted in the development of another lightweight sports car, the piston-powered Mazda Roadster (maybe better known by its worldwide names as the MX-5 or Miata), encouraged by the concept 'jinba ittai'. Introduced in 1989 to worldwide acclaim, the Roadster has been commonly credited with reviving the concept of the small sports car after its decline in the late 1970s.

From 1979 to 2010, Mazda had a partnership with the Ford Motor Company, whoan obtained a 7% share in 1979 and by 1996, owned 33.3% of Mazda. Under the administration of Alan Mulally, Ford gradually divested its stake in Mazda from 2008 to 2010, with Ford presently holding 0% of Mazda stock and severing production as well because development ties.

Mazda's financial problems throughout the 1960s lead in a new corporate investor, Ford Motor Company. Starting in 1979 with a 7-percent financial stake, Ford began a partnership with Mazda resulting in various joint projects. During the Ford, 1980s gained another 20-percent financial stake. These included large and small efforts in all areas of the automotive landscape — most notably in the realm of pickup trucks (such as the Mazda B-Series, which spawned a Ford Courier variant in North America in 1972) and smaller cars. For Mazda, instance's Familia platform had been utilized for Ford models like the Laser and Escort, while the Capella architecture found its way into Ford's Telstar sedan and Probe sports models. In 2002 Ford gained an extra 5-percent financial stake.

The Probe was built in a new Mazda assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan together with the mainstream 626 sedan (the Nortan United states version of the Capella) and a friend Mazda MX-6 sports coupe. Ford has also lent Mazda some of its capacity when needed: the Mazda 121 sold in Europe and South Africa was, for a time, a variant of the Ford Fiesta built in plants in Europe and South Africa. Mazda has also made an effort in the past to sell some of Ford's cars in Japan, mainly through its Autorama dealer group.

Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer, which Mazda sold as the 2-door only Mazda Navajo from 1991 through 1994. Ironically, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available from the start as 4-door or 2-door model) immediately became the best selling sport-utility vehicle in the United States and kept that title for over a decade. Mazda has used Ford's Ranger pickup as the foundation for its North American–market B-Series trucks, beginning in 1994 and continuing through 2010, whenever Mazda discontinued importing its B-Series vehicles to North America, due to costs connected with the chicken tax.

Following its long-held fascination with alternative engine technology, Mazda introduced the first Miller cycle motor for automotive use in the Millenia luxury sedan of 1995. Though the Millenia (and its Miller-type V6 engine) were discontinued in 2002, the company has recently introduced a much smaller Miller-cycle four-cylinder engine for use in its Demio starting in 2008. As with its leadership in Wankel technology, Mazda remains (so far) the only automaker to have utilized a Miller-cycle engine in the automotive realm.

Further financial difficulties at Mazda throughout the 1990s (partly caused by losses related to the 1997 Asian financial crisis) caused Ford to improve its stake to a 33.4-percent controlling interest in May 1996. In June 1996, Henry Wallace was appointed President, and he set about restructuring Mazda and establishing it on a new strategic direction. He laid out a new direction for the brand including the design of the current Mazda marque; he laid out a new product plan to attain synergies with Ford, and he launched Mazda's digital innovation program to speed up the development of new products. At the exact same time, he started taking control of overseas distributors, rationalized dealerships and manufacturing facilities, and driving much needed efficiencies and price reductions in Mazda's operations. Much of his early work put Mazda back into profitability and laid the foundations for future success. Wallace had been succeeded by James Miller in November 1997, used in December 1999 by Ford executive Mark Fields, whom has been credited with expanding Mazda's new product lineup and leading the turnaround throughout the early 2000s. Ford's increased influence during the 1990s allowed Mazda to claim another distinction in history, having maintained the very first foreign-born head of a Japanese car company, Henry Wallace.

Amidst the world monetary crisis in the fall of 2008, reports emerged that Ford had been contemplating a purchase of its share in Mazda as a way of streamlining its asset base. BusinessWeek explained the alliance between Ford and Mazda has been a really successful one, with Mazda saving maybe million a year in development costs and Ford "several times" that, and that a sale of its stake in Mazda would be a desperate measure. On November 18, 2008, Ford announced that it will be selling a 20% stake in Mazda, bringing its stake to 13.4%, and surrendering control of the company. The following day, Mazda announced that, as part of the deal, it had been buying back 6.8% of its shares from Ford. It was also reported that Hisakazu Imaki would be stepping down as chief executive, to be replaced by Takashi Yamanouchi. On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced its stake further to 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets. Ford and Mazda remain strategic partners through joint ventures and exchanges of technological information.

The first racing victory by a Wankel-engined car in the United States was in 1973, whenever Pat Bedard won an IMSA RS competition at Lime Rock Park in a Mazda RX-2.

In 1976, Ray Walle, owner of Z&W Mazda, drove a Cosmo (Mazda RX-5) from the dealership in Princeton, New Jersey, to Daytona, won the Touring Class Under 2.5 Liters at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and drove the car back to New Jersey. The Cosmo placed eighteenth overall in a field of 72. The only modifications were racing brake pads, exhaust, and safety gear.

After substantial successes by the Mazda RX-2 and Mazda RX-3, the Mazda RX-7 has won more IMSA races in its class than any other model of automobile, with its hundredth victory on September 2, 1990. Following that, the RX-7 won its course in the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona race ten years in a row, starting in 1982. The RX-7 won the IMSA Grand Touring Under Two Liter (GTU) championship each 12 months from 1980 through 1987, inclusive.

In 1991, a four-rotor Mazda 787B (2622 cc actual, rated by FIA formula at 4708 cc) won the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race outright. The 787B's triumph remains unparalleled, as it remains the only non-piston-engined car ever to win at Le Mans, and Mazda is still the only Japanese marque to have won overall at Le Mans – ironically after Nissan had closed down its World Sportscar Championship programme and Toyota had opted to take a sabbatical for most of 1991 in order to develop its 3.5-litre TS010. This led to a ban on rotary engines in the Le Mans race starting in 1992, which has because been rescinded. After the 1991 race, the winning engine was publicly dismantled for internal assessment, which demonstrated that despite 24 hours of extremely hard use it had accumulated very little wear.

The Le Mans win in 1991 then followed a decade of class wins from other Mazda prototypes, including the 757 and 767. The Sigma MC74 powered by a Mazda 12A engine was the very first group and engine from outside Western Europe or the United States to finish the whole 24 hours of the Le Mans competition, in 1974. Mazda is also the many dependable finisher at Le Mans (with the exception of Honda, which has entered only three cars in only one year), with 67% of entries finishing. Mazda will return to prototype racing in 2005 with the introduction of the Courage C65 LMP2 car at the American Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta. This prototype racer uses the Renesis Wankel from the RX-8.

Mazdas have also enjoyed substantial success in World Land Speed competition, SCCA competition, drag racing, pro rally competition (the Familia showed up in the WRC several times during the late '80s and early '90s), the One Lap of America competition (winning SUV & truck in a MazdaSpeed5), and other venues. Wankel engines have been banned for some time from worldwide Formula One racing, since well as from United States midget racing, after Gene Angelillo won the North East Midget Racing Association championship in 1985 with a car powered by a 13B engine, and once more in 1986 in a automobile powered by a 12A engine.

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