Mazda is the latest Japanese car company to appoint a new CEO

Masahiro Moro will become the next CEO of Mazdatook over in June from Akira Marumoto, who will continue to serve as a senior advisor to the company.

The new CEO said he will focus on launching the brand’s new full-size crossovers and reducing costs across the company. He’ll also need to deal with the field’s rapid transition to electric vehicles.

Currently, Mazda’s only EV is odd, relatively short range MX-30. In November, the company announced a Plan 1.5 trillion yen ($16 billion) to develop a new electric vehicle architecture that will start vehicle production from 2025, as well as speed up the launch of hybrid vehicles.

Moro joined Mazda in March 1983 seemingly having just graduated from college. His first senior management position, appointed in 2002, was general manager of the company’s global marketing division.

He then moved to the Continent in 2004 to become the company’s European director. Four years later, he returned to Japan to join the company’s board of directors and become head of global marketing. He added global sales and customer service coordination responsibilities in 2013.

In 2016, he became the head of Mazda’s North American operations. Then, in 2021, Moro returned home to oversee the company’s communications, corporate communications, and sustainability departments.

Marumoto, the outgoing CEO, told the press that Moro was chosen in part because of the profitability of Mazda’s North American division.

Indeed, Moro stated at the press conference to confirm the transition that he has two main short-term goals: “One is to successfully launch major products, which will be the main growth drivers to bring the company to market. company on a growth trajectory.

“The second is to implement cost-cutting activities throughout the company, including all supply chains and value chains, to further improve management efficiency in the future, to make business operations more efficient. Our overall business just got stronger.”

Mazda is in the process of launching four new crossovers based on its rear- and four-wheel drive architecture that support mild hybrid and plug-in powertrains.

The smaller CX-60 and CX-80 models are aimed at Europe and Japan, while the larger CX-70 and CX-90 will push the brand into more expensive and hopefully more profitable territory in the US. .

Exports account for 86% of Mazda’s sales, with North America accounting for 36% of the total.

Mazda’s focus on the United States was underscored by the promotion of Jeffrey Guyton to chief financial officer, “assistant to the president” and a seat on the automaker’s board.

Guyton is currently the head of the company’s North America unit, a position he will retain.

Mazda is the second automaker in Toyota’s influence to change leadership. Subaru, which Toyota owns 20%, announced in early March that Atsushi Osaki will become the new CEO in June.

Toyota owns a smaller 5.0% stake in Mazda.

These moves follow upheavals in Toyota’s management ranks. At the end of January, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker’s founder, announced he would step aside in April, and give rule to Koji Satocurrently head of the Lexus and GR Sport divisions.

Osaki and Sato are tasked with accelerating their company’s transition to electric vehicles.

If all goes according to plan, Moro will be approved by shareholders to replace Marumoto next June.

Marumoto joined Mazda in 1980 and mainly worked in product development and program planning.

Since joining the board in 2010, Marumoto has taken care of product strategy, cost control and brand enhancement.

He oversaw the company’s continued push into the luxury market with the latest Mazda 3 and new technologies, such as the SkyActiv-X compression-ignition gasoline engine.

Under Marumoto’s leadership, Mazda has also strengthened its partnership with Toyota, the two companies jointly building a new plant in the United States. In addition, Mazda used Toyota’s hybrid system in Japan.

Marumoto expressed skepticism about the global market’s appetite for electric vehicles, claiming by 2020 that pure electric vehicles will only account for about 5% of total sales by 2030, of which electrification is. part plays a larger role in reducing CO2 emissions.

He also claims that autonomous driving technology will eventually become a supplement or “co-drive” for the driver, not a replacement.