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To przyczynek do japonskiej supremacji nad amerykanskim przemyslem
samochodowym. 
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Dow Jones Business News -- October 15, 1996



Japan Watches As Foreigner Tries To Turn Around Mazda

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP-Dow Jones News Service


HIROSHIMA, Japan -- In Hiroshima these days, a lanky, mustachioed Westerner
is attracting as much attention as the landmark A-Bomb Dome, the gutted
hall that stands as a painful reminder of the 1945 atomic bombing.

That's because this 'gaijin,' or foreigner as the Japanese call them, is
now serving as the new president of Mazda Motor Corp., the world's 12th
largest automaker.

More surprising still, he comes from one of the U.S. car companies that
were forced to overhaul themselves years ago because of an invasion of
better-made Japanese vehicles.

A non-Japanese heading a major company was unheard of in Japan. But that
was before Ford Motor Co. raised its stake in Mazda from 25% to 33.4% with
a $500 million investment, virtually taking control of it and naming Henry
Wallace, Ford's former Venezuela division boss, as its president.

'Of course, I know him. Everybody knows him,' Takuko Oyama, a Hiroshima
liquor store owner, said of Wallace, the Scotsman who took office in June.
'The times are changing.'

Oyama and other residents say the city badly needs a turnaround at Mazda,
which was in the red for two years. Many are counting on Ford's global
prowess to help bring that about.

'About one out of every five or six people in Hiroshima depend on Mazda for
a livelihood,' said Mayor Takashi Hiraoka. 'Taxi drivers, shop-owners, we
all need a strong Mazda.'

So far, Wallace, 50, appears to be off to a good start.

The Demio, the first car launched under him, is a hit.

Taking just 15 months and a bargain $90 million to develop, mostly because
of shared parts with other models, the Demio is one indication of Mazda's
successful cost-cutting.

'In the beginning, we were worried. We're Mazda workers. We didn't want to
become Ford workers,' said Tsutomu Omichi, an employee at a Hiroshima plant
that is churning out Demios on its assembly line.

'But the future looks bright,' added Omichi, who is now working overtime
for the first time in five years.

To Wallace's credit, he has moved quickly to allay the initial fears in the
community: Will he order massive American-style layoffs? Will Mazda's
technological finesse dwindle into a small-car division of Ford?

Wallace has repeatedly said there will be no layoffs. Instead, Mazda is
trimming its work force through the accepted Japanese practice of waiting
for retirements, keeping the system of lifetime employment intact.

Wallace also has promised that Mazda will keep its own brand identity. He
has tiptoed around unprofitable yet emotion-laden projects like the rotary
engine, a symbol leftover from the heyday of sports cars, delaying any
decision on scrapping it.

He knows Mazda can't be turned around overnight.

Except for the Demio, Mazda sales are still lagging. And Mazda continues to
pay for its past mistakes in an overcrowded product line and muddled brand
image.

That means some analysts believe it is too early to say whether Mazda is on
the comeback trail.

'I think it's extremely premature to make a decision on whether this was a
good investment for Ford,' said Maryann Keller, auto analyst at Furman Selz
Inc. in New York. 'The question of Mazda's future really lies in the
ability of Mr. Wallace and Mazda management to recognize how the world has
changed.'

For now at least, Wallace is winning praise at Mazda for offering a more
rational strategy for the troubled company.

'There are some advantages in being a Westerner that I can say and do
things that will be more difficult for a Japanese because he's been in the
company all his life,' Wallace said in an interview.

He dismissed the cynics who suggest he may be tackling a hopeless job.
Mazda will cut costs, prune its product line and invest in a lively
advertising campaign in the U.S. and Japan.

'We're actually moving along,' Wallace said with a grin. 'The direction is
the important thing.'

It was no secret to anyone but to the old-guard management that Mazda
needed to create cars that would sell, not just dazzle other engineers. For
the first time, Mazda is gathering extensive data from customer surveys to
develop models and slogans that sell.

'I told him we needed the three `E's at Mazda _ early decision-making,
energetic action and excellent quality, and he listened. The old management
probably would have laughed,' Mazda Workers' Union President Takeshi
Morikawa said of Wallace.

'He has a clear policy and vision,' said Mazda executive Tadahiko
Takiguchi. 'He has made the problems at Mazda very clear.'

Wallace appears to have proved such a boost for the Mazda image that the
company ran the risk of placing his picture in full-page newspaper ads
along with an open letter to consumers promising that its cars will live up
to a challenge.

His subdued, serious demeanor has also won Wallace points in a conformist
society where the stereotypical American-style executive would have been
too aggressive.

'Japan is far more relationship-oriented. Harmony plays a much bigger
role,' Wallace said.

And the care that the new Mazda president has taken to respect tradition
has paid off. He is respectful to elders and makes the rounds of tables at
parties pouring drinks like a waiter.

'He's so likable. He deals with people in a Japanese way,' said Keijiro
Kurata, president of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce.

But at Mazda, a Hiroshima family business founded in 1920, the old Japanese
way also is being changed.

Today, meetings resemble international negotiations where executives sit in
a circle before microphones connected to a simultaneous interpreting booth.
All company documents are in both English and Japanese.

Internationalization will extend to business deals as well, with Mazda
buying more foreign-made parts to cut costs.
-- 
Pozdrawia S.D.
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