The Mazda Monopoly

With less than 1% of U.S. auto sales to its credit and a headquarters staff of exactly 30 people, Mazda Motors of America seems a trifle small to qualify as a monopoly. Yet for nearly two more years, or until Detroit is ready with its own rotary engine, Mazda will be the only car sold in the U.S. with the rotary: a power system, first designed by West Germany's Felix Wankel, that is half the size of the conventional piston engine and has only three moving parts, v. 166 in a piston engine with comparable horsepower. In the best tradition of U.S. monopolists, the Japanese-owned car maker is making all the hay it can while the sun is shining. Last week the company expanded to two big, new sections of the nation, opening 72 dealerships in ten states in the East and Midwest. There are still no dealers in New England, the Plains states and some border areas, but Mazda plans to have at least one agency in every state by 1975.

The car has been racing through the West since it was introduced about two years ago. In California, Mazda is already the fourth-biggest-selling import, ahead of Fiat and Volvo. U.S. sales have grown from almost nothing in 1970 to an estimated 60,000 this year, and are expected by company officers to at least double next year. Mazda officials expect the operation to reach optimum size in 1975, with 655 dealers selling 300,000 cars annually. That could well put Mazda among the top five car sellers, about even with American Motors.

Much of the credit for Mazda's forward drive goes to C.R. ("Dick") Brown, who became general manager of the main U.S. operation two years ago. The parent company, Toyo Kogyo, had previously set up separate importers in the Northwest and Florida. Brown convinced his Japanese bosses that they should quickly mount a high-volume marketing effort throughout the nation. A former sales director for American Motors in Canada, Brown realized that the key to Mazda's acceptance would be a strong lineup of dealers who could explain and service the unfamiliar engine.

Brown banned dealers who wanted Mazda only as a second or third line. About 70% of Mazda's dealers own another auto agency, but they are required to set up an entirely separate operation handling Mazdas exclusively. Service men are required to spend several days attending one of Mazda's six maintenance schools as well they should. Until many more rotaries are on the road, the only reliable place to get a Mazda fixed is at a dealer.

Fast Pickup. There are a few other drawbacks. The bestselling RX3 five-passenger station wagon is not exactly oversized for its price ($3,700, with automatic shift, air conditioning and radio). Mazda's engine and complex emissions system, though admirably low-polluting, tend to develop a popping effect unless points, plugs and carburetor are meticulously tuned. Nearly all Mazda drivers find that gas consumption is about 10% higher than for comparably sized cars; the Mazda drinks a quart of oil every 1,500 miles. Still, the car has a lot of selling points, including a fast pickup that carries it from 0 m.p.h. to 60 m.p.h. in about 9 1/2 seconds, and sheer technological novelty. The latter is tied to a two-year-long fuse, but Brown insists that Mazda, which has been building rotary engines for five years, will stay ahead of Detroit. His chiefs at Toyo Kogyo apparently agree. They have increased production at their Hiroshima plant from a monthly average of 13,000 earlier this year to 20,000 at present.

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