Editing Mazda (section)

== Brands ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Amati]] -->
[[File:Mazda Japan Car dealership Saitama.jpg|thumb|left|Japanese Mazda dealership in [[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama, Japan]]]]
[[File:Japanese crest Igeta.svg|thumb|50px|The Mazda Motors square symbol is based on [[Sumitomo]] [[mon (crest)|family crest]], which is an affiliated company of the [[Sumitomo Group]]. ]]
[[File:Autozam logo.gif|thumb|50px|Autozam logo]]

Mazda tried using a number of different [[brand]]s in the Japanese (and occasionally Australian) markets in the 1990s, including [[Autozam]], [[Eunos cars|Eunos]], and [[ɛ̃fini]]. The motivation was brought on by market competition from other Japanese automakers efforts in offering vehicles at multiple Japanese dealership networks offered by [[Toyota dealerships (Japan)|Toyota]], [[Nissan Motor Company#Japan|Nissan]], and [[Honda#Japan|Honda]]. Mazda's implementation of brand diversification reflected a Japanese engineering philosophy, called [[Kansei engineering]], which was used as an advertising slogan in North America.

One of the most niche sub-brands was [[M2 (Mazda)|M2]], used on three rare variants of the Eunos Roadster (the M2-1001, M2-1002 and M2-1028) and one of the Autozam AZ-1 (M2-1015). M2 even had its own avant-garde company headquarters, but was shut down after a very short period of operation.

In early 1992, Mazda planned to release a luxury brand, [[Amati Cars|Amati]], to challenge [[Acura]], [[Infiniti]], and [[Lexus]] in North America, which was to begin selling in late 1993. The initial Amati range would have included the Amati 500 (which became the Eunos 800 in Japan and Australia, [[Mazda Millenia]] in the U.S., and Mazda Xedos 9 in Europe), a rebadged version of the [[Mazda Cosmo#Series JC .281990.E2.80.931996.29|Mazda Cosmo]] and the [[Amati 1000]] (a rear-wheel drive V12 competitor to the [[Lexus LS|Lexus LS400]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=It Was Japan's Most Daring Car. Then the Economy Imploded|url=https://jalopnik.com/it-was-japan-s-most-daring-car-then-the-economy-implod-1826265571|access-date=December 17, 2021|website=Jalopnik|date=December 20, 2018|language=en-us|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217222012/https://jalopnik.com/it-was-japan-s-most-daring-car-then-the-economy-implod-1826265571|url-status=live}}</ref>). The Amati brand was eventually scrapped before any cars hit the market.

In Europe, the [[Xedos]] name was also associated with the Mazda [[Xedos 6]], the two models were in production from 1992 until 1997. The Xedos line was marketed under the Mazda brand, and used the Mazda badge from the corresponding years.

This diversification stressed the product development groups at Mazda past its limits. Instead of having a half-dozen variations on any given [[List of Mazda model codes|platform]], developers were asked to work on dozens of different models at the same time. Consumers were confused as well by the explosion of similar new models. This selective marketing experiment was ended in the mid-1990s due to economic conditions, largely attributed to the collapse of the [[Japanese asset price bubble]] in 1991.