The Toyo Kogyo Company continued to manufacture machine tools alongside the three-wheel trucks, expanding its car production capability in 1960 to produce the Mazda R360 Coupe - Mazda’s first passenger car.

It was from this point that the Toyo Kogo Company really started to make an impression on the automotive world with four new vehicles produced in just four years and cumulative vehicle production reaching a million by 1963. By 1970 the company was producing twelve vehicles and with the accumulative production figure approaching five million it had already developed engine technology that no other manufacturer had been able to perfect - the rotary engine.

At the heart of every car is the engine, and in their quest to develop the perfect combustion method, Mazda has developed some of the industry’s most interesting power units over the years. In the 1960’s Mazda saw the potential of the rotary engine, the ability to develop high power from a lightweight, small capacity engine with a smooth operation due to rotating parts rather than reciprocating movement. The unique characteristics of the rotary all contributed to the driving experience that has made Mazda rotary engine cars a favourite of drivers the world over and brought motorsport success to Mazda over the last fifty years.

Mazda has never been one to follow the herd and in 1995 it was the first automotive manufacturer to develop and use a Miller Cycle engine, initially in the Mazda Xedos9 and more recently the Mazda2 in Japan. Previously limited to large capacity engines, the Miller cycle engine was used in ships and trains, it improves efficiency through reduced pumping losses and is used to control NOx at high engine load by reducing the temperature at full compression.

With the launch of the CX-5 in 2012, Mazda introduced the Skyactiv G and Skyactiv D engines, developed in pursuit of the perfect engine to improve efficiency and emissions. The major breakthrough was a common compression ratio of 14:1 for both fuel types, the world’s highest compression ratio of any petrol engine, and for diesel, the world’s lowest compression ratio. The new petrol engine improved fuel efficiency and torque by 15 percent, while the diesel improved both by 20 percent, offering better real-world driving emissions and efficiency.

The production process also benefited from the low compression ratio of the diesel engine. With a compression ratio of 14:1 the diesel engine can be constructed entirely from aluminium, this led to a standardisation of diesel and petrol engine manufacturing, allowing them to be made on the same line with the same machining processes, this was an industry first.

Pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the development of the internal combustion engine Mazda launched the world’s first compression ignition petrol engine in the Mazda3 in 2019. Controlled by a spark plug, the SPCCI engine is the second step in Mazda’s quest to develop and petrol engine with the ideal combustion method. Developing compression ignition for petrol engines had long been a goal of engineers, some believing it was an impossible goal. In the SKYACTIV-X, a spark plug is used to control compression ignition, resulting in dramatic improvements across a range of important performance indicators.

Plastic manufacturing and recycling has been a concern for Mazda for over three decades with a focus on research and development. In 1992 Mazda was the first manufacturer to recycle bumpers, initially just using the recycled plastic for hidden parts such as undertrays. By 2011 Mazda had developed a world-first recycling technology, which enhanced the process it uses to recycle used bumpers from vehicles whose useful life has ended into raw plastic resin for use in new vehicle bumpers. The recycled materials first started being used in the rear bumper of the Mazda Biante minivan.

Under the ‘Mazda Biotech material’ name, the company has succeeded in developing the automotive industry's first high-strength heat-resistant plant-derived bioplastic for interior parts, and, in 2007, the world's first biofabric for vehicle seat upholstery made entirely from plant-derived fibre. In 2015 Mazda developed the world’s first bio-plastic that was of a high enough quality to be used in design decoration parts on the Mazda MX-5 and then on CX-5, CX-30 and MX-30.

Turning their attention to the painting process, Mazda achieved world-class low CO2 emission levels with the implementation of the Three Layer Wet Paint System in 2002. Then in 2009 Mazda developed the Aqua-tech paint system to create one of the most environmentally-friendly automotive paint systems in the world.  It reduces emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) by 78 percent compared to Mazda's previous oil-based paint systems without increasing energy consumption (and associated CO2 emissions) which was already one of the lowest of any paint system in the world.

As the world turned its focus onto car emissions in the 1990s, Mazda unveiled the HRX-1 hydrogen powered concept car at Tokyo motor show in 1991. Hydrogen as the motive power for a car has the environmental benefit of the exhaust emissions being water, but to develop a standard reciprocating engine to run on hydrogen requires expensive modification. With a long heritage in developing the rotary engine, Mazda engineers recognised the potential to run the rotary on hydrogen because of the unique way the engine combusts, meaning the expensive modifications required to convert a reciprocating engine to hydrogen did not apply to a rotary.

In 2006 Mazda became the world’s first company to commercially lease hydrogen powered rotary engine cars with the hydrogen Mazda RX-8 RE. In 2007 Mazda developed the world’s first catalyst material using single nanotechnology with two main features to inhibit the thermal deterioration caused by the agglomeration of precious metal particles and offer a significant improvement in oxygen absorption and release rates for enhanced emissions clearing purification. 

As Mazda continues in its quest to create the world’s most efficient internal combustion engine and the most environmentally friendly production techniques and materials the company hopes to create world firsts that benefit both the customer and environment.

Magic Behind MX Moniker  

While celebrating centenary year Mazda is also looking to the future with the debut of its first all-electric production vehicle – the Mazda MX-30, a unique, stylish and versatile crossover EV.

With its distinctive styling and freestyle doors combined with a cabin where the use of environmentally-friendly materials has been carefully matched to meticulous quality and finish, the MX-30 is a stand-out addition to the Mazda line-up. However, why does it wear the MX moniker? A badge made most famous by the MX-5.

The MX prefix is given to a car that takes on a challenge to create and deliver new values without being confined by convention regardless of vehicle type. When it was revealed in 1989 the Mazda MX-5 was exactly this kind of car, as the automotive industry as a whole moved away from the affordable sports car, Mazda defied convention to create a perfect modern reinterpretation of the classic rear-wheel drive roadster.

More than three decades later the MX-5 needs no introduction, but the first car to wear the MX badge is less famous, however there’s no forgetting it once you’ve seen it. Revealed in 1981, the Mazda MX-81 Aria concept car was created by Italian styling house Bertone, who using Mazda 323 running gear created a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback. A one-off concept that certainly met the defy convention ethos of MX models, it led to a future relationship with Bertone, while things like the high-mounted taillights and pop-up headlamps appeared in future Mazda production cars later in the eighties.

Next in the MX lineage was the 1983 MX-02 concept car, a big flat sided five-door hatch with large windows, aerodynamic rear wheel covers and flared in door mirrors. Unique features included rear wheel steering and a windscreen head-up display. The one-off theme continued with the 1985 Mazda MX-03, which again was a radical looking concept car, but this time it was a defy convention sports car that was powered by a triple rotor 315ps engine. Conceived purely as a concept, this low-slung coupe, was pure futuristic exuberance, with a cabin that featured an aircraft style yoke rather than a wheel, plus digital displays and a head-up display, its technology tally also including four-wheel steering and all-wheel drive, while the long low body delivered an aerodynamic Cd figure of just 0.25.

While the MX-02 and MX-03 shared some of the same futuristic design cues, the MX-04 was completely different. Displayed at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, the MX-04 was a front-engine rear-wheel drive sports car chassis that had removable fibreglass panels, but not just one, but two different sets, allowing the car to switch from a glass dome roofed coupe to a beach buggy style open sided roadster. Powered by a rotary engine this barmy shape-shifting sports car was never a serious contender for production, but little did outsiders know that Mazda was already developing the MX-5, and just two-years later, the most famous car to wear a MX badge arrived.

And the next cars to wear the MX badge were also production models, both cars built on the MX-5’s success and offered very different coupe styles. Sold from 1992 to 1993, the Mazda MX-3 was a four-seat coupe hatchback that disregarded the convention for normal hatchbacks to offer buyers something far more stylish and sportier, while it further earnt its MX badge by being available with the world’s smallest mass-produced V6 engine. The larger MX-6 coupe conveyed big premium coupe style for family saloon money, but in the 1990s arguably the most radical car to wear the MX badge was the Mazda MXR-01.

Into the 21st century the MX moniker returned to adorn concept cars, all of which stayed true to the MX ethos of delivering something new by challenging convention: the 2001 MX-Sport Tourer concept was a radical MPV concept with freestyle doors and sweeping body design, that highlighted the fact an MPVs did not have to be boxy or dull, something the resulting Mazda5 proved. In fact, the 2004 Mazda MX-Flexa was a concept that was even closer to the final ground-breaking Mazda5 production car, sharing its popular sliding rear doors.

The 2002 MX-Sport Runabout concept previewed the modern look of the second-generation Mazda2, while the 2003 MX-Sportif was the concept that previewed the first generation Mazda3, which was a big step forward from the outgoing Mazda 323.

And now with the arrival of the ground-breaking MX-30, it’s appropriate that the MX name returns to a production model – as Mazda’s first production EV, the MX-30 is a car that represents a new chapter in Mazda’s history. (MT)

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Bengaluru-headquartered ER&D company L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has announced a multi-year engagement within its mobility segment from an automotive manufacturer. The agreement involves software, connectivity and digital engineering services across vehicle technology domains. This win follows the company’s investments in R&D labs and mobility infrastructure designed for programs with global manufacturers.

The engagement covers mobility engineering capabilities, including embedded systems, digital platforms, verification and validation, cloud integration and cybersecurity. LTTS intends to use its engineering expertise and delivery frameworks to support the customer's technology roadmap. 

At present, LTTS operates 22 design centres and 100 innovation labs globally.

The agreement strengthens the partnership between LTTS and the automotive manufacturer in the area of mobility engineering. The company provides design, development, and testing services across the mobility, sustainability, and tech segments. 

Alind Saxena, Executive Director and President, Mobility and Tech at L&T Technology Services, said, “We are proud to deepen our partnership with the valued customer through this strategic engagement. LTTS brings together domain-led engineering, secure development practices and excellence in global delivery to accelerate the future of premium mobility. The win reflects the trust placed in our teams and our commitment to delivering world-class engineering at scale”.

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French technology company Valeo and NATIX Network have announced a partnership to develop a multi-camera World Foundation Model (WFM). The project combines Valeo’s research in artificial intelligence and generative modelling with NATIX’s decentralised physical infrastructure network (DePIN) to create an open-source platform for autonomous driving and robotics.

The initiative aims to move beyond perception-based models by creating a system capable of predicting future states and reasoning about physical interactions in a four-dimensional environment. The model will be trained using NATIX’s data network, which has collected 600,000 hours of video data across the US, Europe and Asia over seven months. This data provides the multi-camera inputs necessary for the spatial perception required by autonomous vehicles and robots.

The partnership builds upon Valeo’s existing open-source frameworks, VaViM (Video Autoregressive Model) and VaVAM (Video-Action Model). While these frameworks were previously trained primarily on front-camera datasets, the integration of NATIX’s multi-camera network expands the AI’s field of vision to 360 degrees.

Under the open-source framework, the partners will release models, datasets and training tools. This approach is intended to allow the research community to fine-tune models and benchmark physical AI across various driving conditions and geographic regions. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the deployment of end-to-end AI models by learning from real-world edge cases captured by vehicles in operation.

Marc Vrecko, Chief Executive Officer, Valeo’s Brain Division, said, “Since our creation in 2018, Valeo’s AI research center has been at the forefront of AI research in the automotive industry, especially in the fields of assisted and autonomous driving. Our goal has always been to advance mobility intelligence safely and responsibly. By combining Valeo’s generative world modeling research expertise with NATIX’s global multi-camera data, we are accelerating both the quality and the accessibility of next-generation end-to-end AI models, enabling the research community to build upon strong open models.”

Alireza Ghods, CEO and Co-Founder, NATIX, added, “WFMs are a once-in-a-generation opportunity — similar to the rise of LLMs in 2017–2020. The teams that build the first scalable world models will define the foundation of the next AI wave: Physical AIs. With our distributed multi-camera network, NATIX has a clear advantage of being able to move faster than large OEMs.”

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Tata Technologies has announced the completion of the 3^rd edition of its innovation hackathon, InnoVent 2026, supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The initiative invited engineering students to develop solutions for mobility challenges in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. The programme received participation from 10,247 students across 404 colleges in India, resulting in 2,822 projects.

The competition focused on the theme of intelligence-driven mobility for the year 2030. Participants received over 650 hours of mentoring and training from subject matter experts to convert their concepts into prototypes. The top 10 teams presented their work at the company's Hinjewadi campus in Pune before a jury of industry leaders from Jaguar Land Rover, Air India and ES-Tec Group.

Team Drushti from CMR College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, secured the first prize of INR 300,000 for a system that customises vehicle infotainment for visually impaired drivers. Second place went to Team The T-Factor from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, for an AI-based breakdown prevention system. Team SwarmSync from the International Institute of Information Technology (I²IT), Pune, took third place for an intelligent fleet management solution using V2X communication.

Tata Technologies offered career opportunities to all 42 finalists involved in the top projects. Furthermore, all participants were granted one-year access to the iGETIT learning platform to study emerging technologies. The finalist projects covered areas such as blockchain for vehicle security, wireless charging for electric vehicles, and AI-led battery monitoring.

The event featured a humanoid robot that performed roles such as coordinating panel discussions and interacting with attendees. A panel of industry experts discussed the global demand for engineering talent and the impact of technology on future mobility.

Warren Harris, MD & CEO, Tata Technologies, said, "InnoVent at Tata Technologies represents our conviction that the future is shaped by those who combine engineering excellence with human purpose to engineer a better world".

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Kia India has announced the re-launch of its Kia Inspiring Drive (K.I.D) Program, debuting alongside the New Kia Seltos. The initiative is a driving score system designed to monitor real-time behaviour and provide insights into habits. Accessed via the Kia Connect app, the programme will be rolled out across the company’s connected vehicle portfolio in phases.

The K.I.D score is calculated using a three-month rolling average based on parameters including rapid acceleration, rapid deceleration and sudden starts. To ensure data accuracy, the system applies a weighted value based on the specific vehicle. This methodology aims to reflect long-term driving patterns rather than isolated incidents.

The programme incorporates community-based leaderboards, allowing owners to compare scores and track their standing within the Kia community. By turning road safety into an interactive experience, the manufacturer intends to encourage responsible driving through recognition and competition.

The behaviour-based scoring system provides data to help users understand the impact of their habits on road safety. Kia is supporting the re-launch with a digital and press campaign to increase awareness among its customer base.

Atul Sood, Senior Vice-President – Marketing & Sales, Kia India, said, “Safety remains at the core of Kia’s philosophy, and with the re-launch of the Kia Inspiring Drive program alongside the New Seltos, we are taking another meaningful step towards encouraging responsible driving behaviour. By offering customers clear, data-driven insights into their driving patterns, the KID program empowers them to make safer choices on the road, while also enhancing their overall ownership experience.”

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