Archive for July 2008

Mazda Launches New Sales Network in Turkey

HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that its national sales company (NSC) in Turkey launched its new sales network in early June 2008.

 

Mazda transferred responsibility for the Turkish market to Mazda Motor Europe (MME) in 2007, and the new NSC in Turkey was established in September 2007. Since then, further preparations were made toward the launch of operations in Istanbul in early June. The company was officially established as Mazda Motor Logistics Europe N.V. Merkezi Belçika Türkiye Istanbul Şubesi. Mr. Steve Newton was appointed managing director of the new distributor on June 2, 2008, and operations began on June 5. Mazda’s distributor has 10 employees, with 22 sales outlets in Turkey.

 

Mazda’s distributor in Turkey plays a unifying role in several areas of the Mazda business, including importation and distribution of Mazda-brand vehicles, parts and accessories; technical and servicing support; sales, marketing and public relations campaigns; and efforts to strengthen the company’s brand image and sales networks.

 

The full-scale commencement of sales operations for Mazda’s distributor in Turkey is part of Mazda’s successful and ongoing strategy to establish wholly owned distribution subsidiaries in Europe. Now with 21 national sales companies doing business in 39 countries, Mazda controls over 90 percent of its sales volume in the European market through wholly owned subsidiaries.

 

Mazda will continue to strengthen its brand image and further develop its sales network in Europe as key elements of the mid-term Mazda Advancement Plan.

Organizational and Personnel Changes

Mazda Motor Corporation has announced the following organizational and personnel changes, effective July 1, 2008.

 

1. Organizational changes
Changes in the area of customer service

Goals

To strengthen the Mazda brand’s quality and service worldwide and provide the best possible service to every customer. Achieve this by structuring departments according to function to improve business efficiency and by streamlining service promotional activities according to market.
To further promote recycling efforts by integrating recycling promotion activities with the internal control and the environmental management system (EMS) promotion functions of the Customer Service HR Planning & Administration Dept. to achieve synergies and improve efficiencies.
To improve services and better respond to customer needs by consolidating domestic parts sales and service promotional activities in line with the establishment of Mazda Parts Co., Ltd. on July 1, 2008.

 

Details of the organizational changes

All functions of the Recycle Promotion Office have been transferred to the Customer Service HR Planning and Administration Dept.
Some functions of the Global Service Marketing & Purchasing Dept. have been transferred to the Customer Service Business Development Dept.
The Customer Service Education and Training Dept. has been newly established; some functions of the Customer Service HR Planning & Administration Dept. and the Vehicle Service & Program Dept. have been transferred to it.
The Domestic Parts & Service Marketing Dept. has been newly established; some functions of the Customer Service HR Planning and Administration Dept., Customer Service Business Development Dept. and the Global Service Marketing & Purchasing Dept. and all functions of the Domestic Parts Sales Dept. have been transferred to it.
The Overseas Fields Service Dept. has been renamed the Overseas Parts & Service Marketing Dept.; some functions of the Customer Service Business Development Dept. have been transferred to it.
In line with the above changes, the Recycle Promotion Office, Global Service Marketing & Purchasing Dept. and Domestic Parts Sales Dept. have been eliminated.

 

2. Personnel Changes
(1) Executive officers

New Post Current Post Name
Executive Officer
General Manager,
Customer Service Div.
and President,
Mazda Parts Co., Ltd.
Executive Officer
and General Manager,
Customer Service Div.
Kozo Kawakami

 

(2) General managers and above

New Post Current Post Name
Staff Manager
Global Auditing Dept.
General Manager
Customer Service Business Development Dept.
Mitsunori Kariya
Program Manager
Program Management Office No.2
Program Manager
Program Management Office No.1
and Program Manager
Program Management Office No.2
Hideaki Tanaka
Deputy General Manager
Purchasing Div.
- Peter Sahlstrom
General Manager
Powertrain Production Engineering Dept.
Manager
Foundry & Forging Production Engineering Gr. No.2
Powertrain Production Engineering Dept.
Iwao Aota
General Manager
Powertrain Production Dept. No.2 Hiroshima Plant
General Manager
Powertrain Production Engineering Dept.
Hiroshi Miyanaka
General Manager
Powertrain Production Dept. No.4 Hofu Plant
General Manager
Powertrain Production Dept. No.2 Hiroshima Plant
Keiichi Ishimaru
General Manager
Vehicle Production Dept. No.4 Hofu Plant
General Manager
Powertrain Production Dept. No.4 Hofu Plant
Hidenori Kawakami
Deputy General Manager
Domestic Business Div.
and General Manager
Used Car Dept.
Deputy General Manager
Domestic Business Div.
Hiroaki Shimada
Deputy General Manager
Customer Service Div.
Deputy General Manager
Customer Service Div.
and General Manager
Recycle Promotion Office
Teruhiko Miyazaki
General Manager
Customer Service Business Development Dept.
General Manager
Global Service Marketing & Purchasing Dept.
Hideaki Itami
General Manager
Global Supply Chain Management Dept.
Manager
Domestic Parts Business Promotion Gr.
Domestic Parts Sales Dept.
Hiroaki Ozaki
General Manager
Customer Service Education & Training Dept.
Manager
Customer Service Business Planning Gr.
Customer Service Business Development Dept.
Yoji Maekawa
General Manager
Domestic Parts & Service Marketing Dept.
General Manager
Global Supply Chain Management Dept.
Kazuhiro Kobayashi
General Manager
Overseas Parts & Service Marketing Dept.
General Manager
Overseas Fields Service Dept.
Hiroshi Okugawa
Dispatched to Kanto Mazda Co., Ltd. General Manager
Used Car Dept.
Keizo Mori
Dispatched to Mazda Parts Co., Ltd. General Manager
Domestic Parts Sales Dept.
Norihiro Matsuo
Dispatched to AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd. General Manager
Vehicle Production Dept. No.4
Hofu Plant
Yasunobu Hiragochi
- Deputy General Manager
Purchasing Div.
(Return to Ford as of June 30, 2008)
Tom E. Wessner

BMW Museum re-opens after total refurbishment.

BMW Group is one of the most forward-looking car companies in the world, yet it never forgets its roots.

One of Munich’s architectural highlights, the BMW Museum stands right next to the world famous BMW Group Head Office Four-Cylinder Building. It was here that the Chairman of the Board of Management of the BMW Group, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, officially reopened the Museum last week.

He highlighted the importance of tradition for the company: “Awareness of our heritage, the experiences and developments that our company has been through give us direction, power and inspiration for our work,” he said.

After a two and a half year refurbishment project, visitors can look forward to more than 120 exhibits in museum space covering 5,000 square metres. They will be presented in a completely new exhibition concept.

The circular museum will continue to be a landmark and a sought-out destination for car lovers from across Europe and the world. The adjacent low-level building now complements the ‘Bowl’ - as the circular museum building has been designated ever since it was opened in 1973. This has entailed increasing the available floor space five-fold. The museum will open its doors to the public this coming Saturday, 21 June 2008 from 10.00.

As guest of honour, Dr. Norbert Reithofer welcomed Eberhard von Kuenheim, who as Chairman of the Board of Management opened the museum in 1973. Although the exhibition has changed since then, the philosophy of the museum remains the same:

“A BMW Museum has to present living corporate heritage. And it must show how BMW defines the future, on the basis of concrete objects,” Dr Reithofer said.

The future was presented in an unusual way at the opening ceremony: 350 apprentices of the BMW Group surprised guests as representatives of the upcoming generation who would shape the history of the BMW Group, and themselves create new vehicles that will one-day be exhibited with pride in the Museum.

Acura Announces June Sales Results

The TSX sports sedan posted best-ever June sales, making it Acura’s top-selling vehicle for the month as the luxury division posted June sales of 12,456 units, down 16.4 percent* based on the daily-selling-rate. Acura year-to-date sales of 77,914 are down 14.3 percent versus 2007.

In just its second full month on sale, the redesigned TSX sports sedan set a new June record with sales of 3,869 units, surpassing the previous record of 3,414 set in 2007. Year-to-date sales TSX reached 17,683, up 2.2 percent compared to last year.

“The TSX is receiving a tremendous response from customers who want it all - performance, luxury and fuel efficiency,” said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of sales. “The all-new TSX is clearly the right product at the right time.”