Mazda3 Named a 2011 'Top 10 Coolest New Car Under $18,000' by Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com

- Mazda3 Has Been Selected Eight Consecutive Years to the "Coolest Under $18,000" List

 

IRVINE, Calif. (June 24, 2011) - Mazda3 was named a 2011 "Top 10 Coolest New Car Under $18,000" today by Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com.  For eight years running, Mazda3 has been deemed by Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com annual list as a cool and fun-to-drive car for a very reasonable price tag.

Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com selects "Top 10 Coolest New Car Under $18,000" vehicles based on simple criteria.  Cars must be fun-to-drive, fun-to-own, possess a certain 'cool factor' and adhere to the under $18,000 price tag. Mazda3 has held the title since it came to market in 2004.

"At some point we're going to have to give Mazda3 a lifetime achievement award for its unequaled streak of appearances on our annual list of coolest cars," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com.  "For the 8th year in a row - every year of the car's existence, in fact - the Mazda3 has earned a spot on our list for its standout sheet metal, excellent interior and exceptional driving dynamics."

The Mazda3 compact sedan is powerful and fuel efficient with a standard 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine that offers 148 horsepower and 135 lb.-ft. of torque. An available 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine,that offers 167 horsepower and 168 lb.-ft. of torque.  Starting at $15,800, the sedan has an EPA fuel economy rating of 33 highway/24 city when equipped with the 2.0-liter engine (automatic) and 29 highway/22 city when equipped with the 2.5-liter engine (automatic). 

"Nearly half of all Mazdas sold in the United States are Mazda3s, so we are proud of the 2011 Mazda3 for earning a spot on Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com 'Top 10 Coolest New Cars Under $18,000' list," said Jim O'Sullivan, president and CEO, Mazda North American Operations.  "This award illustrates Mazda's dedication to producing engaging and fun-to-drive vehicles."

Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the industry.  Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In and Retail Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new cars this week.  The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies as well as governmental agencies.  Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations. Kelley Blue Book Co. Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AutoTrader.com

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers.  Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario; and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

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Mazda Receives 2011 JIII Award for Invention of Eco-Friendly Paints

By: Mazda News

HIROSHIMA, Japan—Two researchers from Mazda Motor Corporation have received the 2011 "Japan Business Federation Chairman's Award for Invention" from the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII). The award recognizes outstanding inventions that make a significant contribution to the advancement of science and technology and the development of industry.

 

Awarded for:	Invention of new paint technology for the Three-Layer Wet Paint System (Patent number: 3831266)
Recipients:	Takakazu Yamane, Technical Research Center, Mazda Motor Corporation Tsutomu Shigenaga, Technical Research Center, Mazda Motor Corporation

 

The Three Layer Wet Paint System is a one-step baking and drying coating method that applies three layers of paint in succession - primer coat, colored base coat and clear top coat - while still wet, without drying in between. Compared to the previous painting system, Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from the paint shop are reduced 45 percent and CO₂ emissions are reduced 15 percent.

 

In order to achieve the reduction in VOC emissions, Mazda developed new low-solvent paints with reduced VOC content for use with its Three Layer Wet Paint System. Generally, reducing the volume of solvent in paint raises its viscosity and makes the paint unsuitable for coating. To maintain a low paint viscosity, Mazda managed to reduce the size of the paint molecules. However, when low-viscosity, low-solvent paints are applied in three successive layers, the layers tend to mix, causing a deterioration in glossiness and cloudy discoloration. Mazda overcame this issue by developing an interface control resin and adding it to the primer coat. The resin forms a barrier at the interface of the paint layers to ensure a high quality coating. Thanks to the newly developed paints, Mazda was able to eliminate the drying process previously required after applying the primer coat. By directly applying the color base coat and clear top coat after the primer, CO₂ emissions were significantly reduced.

 

Since completing development of the Three Layer Wet Paint System in 2002, Mazda has introduced it to all of its paint shops in Japan and overseas. Following its utilization for mass production at Mazda, the coating method has spread through the automobile industry. More recently, Mazda has successfully developed the Aqua-tech Paint System, a new version of this technology that uses water-based paint, further reducing paint shop VOC emissions. Currently, Mazda is progressively rolling out the Aqua-tech Paint System to its production facilities.

 

The JIII award presentation ceremony will take place on Monday, June 20, 2011 at the Hotel Okura Tokyo. The following two researchers outside Mazda will share the award:

Joint recipients:

Masakazu Watanabe, Nippon Paint Co., Ltd. Takuhiro Kakii, Nippon Paint Co., Ltd.

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1991 Le Mans winning Mazda 787B guest stars in 2011 with Johnny Herbert and Patrick Dempsey

HIROSHIMA, Japan—20 years after winning the world's most demanding 24-hour endurance race, the No. 55 Mazda 787B car returned as a guest star for Le Mans 2011. Twice driven in demonstration laps around the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe on Thursday, June 9 and Saturday 11, it thrilled the huge Le Mans crowds with a revival of the unforgettable sound of its 4-rotor engine. This fully-restored unique original also opened the drivers' parade around the Le Mans city center on Friday, June 10.

 "It is a wonderful opportunity to be here in Le Mans again this year. It's really my first time in this car and it has lots of personality. I tried to start a relationship with it in two laps!" says Patrick Dempsey, the actor and Mazda RX-8 racer and team owner in the Grand-AM series in the USA. Dempsey was the first to drive the 787B on Thursday, before joining the drivers' parade on Friday to the delight of the excited onlookers. He also participated in Mazda's press conference together with Seita Kanai, Mazda's director and executive vice president, and many of the 1991 winning team members and drivers, as well as Jean-Claude Plassart, the president of the Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO, the Le Mans organizer).

 At the drivers' parade, 170,000 astonished spectators watched the 700 horsepower racer tear around the streets of Le Mans at the hands of Yojiro Terada (Japan) and David Kennedy (Ireland), both long time Mazda racing drivers at Le Mans. The parade continued with Patrick Dempsey and Seita Kanai accompanied by Pierre Dieudonné (Belgium) and many others.

On Saturday, as a warm-up to the race, Johnny Herbert (UK) returned for the first time to the wheel of his winning car for two laps of pure emotion. After piloting the 787B first across the finish line in 1991, he was unable to join his team co-drivers on the podium due to faintness from dehydration. This year however, after comically re-enacting his faint, he was invited to finally step onto the Le Mans podium and celebrate his victory and Mazda's victory; the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win the 24 hours of Le Mans.

 Seita Kanai, executive vice president of Mazda Motor Corporation, says, "It is amazing to see that so many motorsport fans still remember Mazda's victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans 20 years ago and are still so enthusiastic. Our victory was a story of pure commitment and passion from our engineers and the entire team. This same spirit thrives today with the development of our breakthrough SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY for the next generation of Mazda cars."

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The Vision of Mazda

Mazda has developed its business by providing "Zoom-Zoom" cars that are fun to drive. To continue achieving this "Zoom-Zoom" feeling, we see it as our mission to build cars that also provide high levels of environmental and safety performance.

In March 2007, we introduced the "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom" plan, which outlines our long-term vision for technology development. The plan stresses our ongoing devotion to harmonize driving performance with safety and the environment in building vehicles that look inviting to drive, are fun to drive, and make you want to drive them again.

The heart of the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom plan is our utterly unique and groundbreaking next-generation SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY. To coincide with the development of these breakthrough powertrains and platforms, Mazda will also be renewing everything from planning and production processes to sales and marketing methods. We are embracing our breakthrough spirit to bring about innovations in all business areas.

We are moving forward with the same challenging sprit that has made Mazda the world leader in rotary engines. We will uphold our group unity as "One Mazda" as we aim to meet our responsibilities to ongoing changes in society and be a company that is trusted and appreciated by all our stakeholders throughout the world.

I greatly appreciate your continuing encouragement and support for us.

Mazda established a new corporate vision in December 1999, comprised of three elements:

To create new value, excite and delight our customers through the best automotive products and services.

With passion, pride and speed, we actively communicate with our customers to deliver insightful automotive products and services that exceed their expectations.

We value integrity, customer focus, creativity, and efficient and nimble actions and respect highly motivated people and team spirit. We positively support environmental matters, safety and society.
Guided by these values, we provide superior rewards to all people associated with Mazda.

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