. Mazda Motor Europe Announces new Head of its
R&D Centre
Leverkusen - Mazda Motor
Europe announced today the appointment of Jiro Maebayashi, currently
General Manager of the Basic Design Department in Hiroshima HQ, to Vice
President of Mazda's European Research and Development Centre (MRE) in
Oberursel, near Frankfurt.
Mr. Maebayashi replaces
Kiyoshi Fujiwara, who has held the position since March 2003. Mr. Fujiwara
will take over as General Manager of the Product Planning and Business
Strategy Division at company headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan.
Mr. Maebayashi, 58, has
worked for Mazda Motor Corporation for 33 years, holding a variety of
positions, including Manager and General Manager positions at Mazda's
Research and Development Centres in the US and in Yokohama, Japan. Prior
to this, he was Chief Programme Engineer for the first generation of the
Mazda Demio and was a key developing engineer for the first and second
generation of the rotary-engine legend Mazda RX-7.
"I'd like to thank
Kiyoshi Fujiwara for the exemplary way he lead our R&D centre these
past two years," said James Muir, President and CEO Mazda Motor
Europe, "and there is no better person to succeed him than Jiro
Maebayashi. He has held management positions in all our regional R & D
centres and brings a wealth of experience and insight in product
development, especially for small cars and sports cars. With him at the
helm, our R&D organization will continue to ensure that Mazda vehicles
meet the demands of European customers."
