Mazda Motor Corporation has named Masahiro Moro, 62, as its new president and CEO, succeeding Akira Marumoto, 65 .
Subaru announced a change in CEO in early March, and Mazda made a similar announcement today — both companies are now feeling underwhelmed due to lagging behind larger companies in terms of electrification of model lines and are trying to create a reliable foundation for the future with the help of personnel changes. In addition, Mazda and Subaru are each other's main competitors in the US market: in 2020, Mazda, we recall, decided to offer its crossovers in the US only with all-wheel drive, as Subaru has always done.
Global sales of Mazda in 2022, according to the company itself, amounted to 1,116,107 vehicles, which is 13.3% less than in 2021. The main sales market is the USA: Mazda sold 294,909 vehicles there last year (-11.4%). Subaru sold 801,730 vehicles worldwide in 2022 (-6.8%), of which 556,581 (-4.7%) were in the US market.
The statistics show that Subaru is still significantly ahead of Mazda in the US market, but it also depends on it more, Mazda's business is geographically more diversified. Nevertheless, the US market, according to Reuters, will be one of the main targets for the new president and CEO of Mazda, Masahiro Moro. He joined the company in 1983 and served as CEO of Mazda Motor of America from 2019 to 2019, and until recently was a senior executive responsible for the company's global communications.
Masahiro Moro (left) and Akira Marumoto (right)
Last November, Mazda unveiled an updated development strategy that was more vague than previous plans. In particular, the company announced that the share of electric vehicles in the structure of its sales by 2030 will be 25-40% — this is too much backlash for planning, but it is due to the fact that the mass entry of Mazda electric vehicles to the world market will take place only after 2028, which, frankly, a bit late.
It is also embarrassing that in the latest Mazda reports there is no confirmation of the course for the premium segment, which was taken in 2019 — perhaps this decision was recognized as unsuccessful, and Masahiro Moro will soon tell where Mazda will rush now. I would also like more specifics about the upcoming new products, because for two years the company canceled the new, premium generation Mazda 6 with a longitudinal arrangement of the power unit, and now there are rumors that the Mazda CX-5 crossover will not receive a successor.
In 2022, the CX-5 was once again the most sought-after Mazda CX-5 with 365,135 units sold. (-4% compared to 2021), in second place is the Mazda 3 (173,619 units, -26%), in the third place is the Mazda CX-30 crossover (172,057 units, -22.7%).< /p>
Formally, Masahiro Moro will take over the top management positions in June after the approval of his candidacy at the general meeting of shareholders. Akira Marumoto, who has served as president and CEO since 2018, will continue to work for the company as a senior advisor.