Mazda Canada

Emotion of motion┬áPresident Don Romano tells Jaclyn Beck how Mazda Canada satisfies its customersÔÇÖ passion for the road. ItÔÇÖs been 40 years since MazdaÔÇÖs first car arrived in Canada, and all the while MazdaÔÇÖs reputation for uncompromising quality and outstanding value has steadily grown. As the fourth largest national sales subsidiary of Mazda Motor Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda Canada Inc. is living up to those respectable standards through quality, value, and a marketing approach that challenges other car manufacturers.Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, with 160 independently owned, franchised, Mazda dealers across Canada, Mazda is the third ranked imported brand in Canada. The Canadian division, poised to set record sales for the fiscal year with the recent release of the new Mazda6 in October, and the new Mazda3 set to come out in January, has always proven to be among the best in auto distribution. Don Romano has been with Mazda for the past ten years, and was appointed President of Mazda Canada in April of 2006. RomanoÔÇÖs former position of vice president of marketing for Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), headquartered in Irvine, California, meant he was in charge of overseeing brand development, business planning and global integration. Earlier in his career Romano worked for Nissan Motor Corporation in a number of positions, including corporate model line marketing manager, corporate sales operations manager, and regional marketing manager. Since joining Mazda, he has been praised for his key role in promoting national incentives and advertising in local dealer markets in the US. As general manager of the Western Region in the US, Romano is credited for helping to increase the regionÔÇÖs sales from the second smallest in the nation to the second largest. Romano was on the ground floor of MazdaÔÇÖs ÔÇ£Zoom ZoomÔÇØ marketing campaign; a promotion that has been around since 2000 and continues to be MazdaÔÇÖs well-known adage in a majority of its television and radio commercials and other advertisements. The brand message comes from a deep understanding of MazdaÔÇÖs customers. At the core of MazdaÔÇÖs character is a passion for the road and what the company calls an ÔÇ£emotion of motionÔÇØ that it believes is inherent in all cars. In order to deliver that message, Mazda focuses on an emotional connection with its customers while also recognizing that car owners equally appreciate quality and value.Although the cars are the same, of course, the perception of quality can change from place to place. Romano says this has much to do with the management of vehicle delivery and its presentation and inspection upon arrival at the dealership. For Mazda Canada, Romano implemented a rigorous inspection for each vehicle, as well as a thorough explanation of its features to the customer, to avoid disappointment due to misunderstanding or false impressions. Through the ÔÇ£Zoom ZoomÔÇØ campaign, Mazda learned to identify and communicate with its ideal customer niche. When the campaign first started in 2000, Romano participated in a customer focus shift away from the baby-boomers that were being targeted by other auto manufacturers to the younger buyers who wanted a fun, unique, sporty car that was also easy on the environment. MazdaÔÇÖs four-cylinder cars have always been fuel efficient by nature, and with its understanding of effective marketing, it is able to maintain ÔÇ£the soul of a sports carÔÇØ while also recognizing that there is a continually increasing demand for efficiency and sustainability. Through a re-vamped campaign launched in 2007 called ÔÇ£sustainable Zoom Zoom,ÔÇØ Mazda has been able to aggressively pursue additional company-wide green initiatives in both product and infrastructure.┬á MazdaÔÇÖs long-term commitment to minimizing pollution, conserving world resources and contributing to a better society is a guiding principle in its product design and choice of components, as well as its manufacturing. ÔÇ£Over 75 percent of all plastic parts used on the vehicles are recyclable, all gaskets and brake pads are asbestos-free, and we use no ozone-damaging CFCs in polyurethane products such as the foam padding in seats, armrests and steering wheels,ÔÇØ says Romano.ÔÇ£We strive to use only the required amount of energy in the required place at the required time,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£Every step is taken to save energy where possible. In addition to this, we have for a significant time been operating a cogeneration system (generating heat and electricity at the same time), in our attempts to utilize energy in the most efficient way possible.ÔÇØMazda is working hard on research and development aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of its cars, to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted. ÔÇ£Currently we are working on improving engine combustion, increasing transmission efficiency and reducing the weight of our vehicles, in order to be able to release passenger vehicles that meet Japanese 2010 fuel efficiency standards in all weight categories onto the market as soon as possible,ÔÇØ says Romano. Mazda also sees an opportunity in new diesel and hydrogen technologies as alternative fuel sources, as the rotary engines used in some models lend themselves to the use of hydrogen with little or no modifications. The company owes a great deal to its association with Ford Motor Company, which has had a 33.9 percent controlling interest in Mazda since 1997. Although a global company, Mazda is bigger in Canada than it is in other countries around the world, relying heavily on its partnership with Ford for technological development, and the close relationship between the two companiesÔÇÖ engineers. Mazda has also become more efficient in parts distribution through a partnership with Caterpillar. With limited rail services, distribution in Canada is a challenge, but although Mazda has only one parts distribution facility in Canada to service the entire country, the Canadian division is the most efficient parts distributor in the entire organization.Romano doesnÔÇÖt see Mazda as ever being a mainstream company. He says that Mazda has found itself a niche and that the soul of the company will lead it to success over the next ten to twenty years. ┬á