Mazda Creates New Position to Boost US Operations

As the US automotive market is slowly getting back on track, the opportunities of what once was the largest market in the world are causing quite a stir in the ranks of the foreign producers doing business there.

Mazda, as part of the Japanese army of producers that sells on the local market, decided to make a few management changes to its North American operations, as it plans to give the US market an increased importance. The car maker is now riding the high waves, posting an increase in sales of 33 percent in March (30,905 units) and of 15 percent for the first quarter of the year (64,559 units).

Until now, the Mazda North American operations concerned the entire continent, including Mexico and Canada. The Japanese automaker, however, had no Operations Group for the US market, running the business for all the three countries combined.

This week, Mazda announced the creation of this Operations Group, and the appointment of Robert Davis as vice president of the new department. Davis will be in charge with Mazda's sales, marketing, dealer development, owner loyalty initiatives and public relations on the US market.

The new executive will take on his new role on May 1. Until now, the 47-year old was in charge with Mazda's product development and quality for the North American market

"In order to fully realize Mazda's U.S. growth potential in the next few years, we significantly reshaped our organization to focus even more effort and resources on our business here in the states," said Jim O'Sullivan, Mazda North America CEO.