The Mazda Motor Corporation announced last Friday that its Board of Directors has proposed that Masahiro Moro will become President and CEO. He succeeds Akira Marumoto, who has led the global Mazda business since 2018. Jeffrey Guyton will be the new CFO.

Moro (62) joined the company in 1983. Before he took over his current position as Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer in charge of Communication, he was Chairman and CEO of Mazda North American Operations from 2016 to 2021. Before that, he was the Executive Officer in charge of Global Marketing and held a Vice President position at Mazda Motor Europe for four years.

Also today, Mazda’s Board of Directors proposed that Jeffrey H. Guyton (56) will be appointed Representative Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He is currently the President and CEO of Mazda North American Operations and Senior Managing Executive Officer in charge of Mazda’s operations in North America. Before this, Guyton was leading Mazda’s European business for ten years.

European connection

Martijn ten Brink, President and CEO of Mazda Motor Europe, gave his comments on the announcement:

“First, I want to congratulate Masahiro Moro and Jeff Guyton. I am pleased to see two experienced leaders, who also know the European region well, will be taking the helm of our global business.”

“Europe has always been a key market for Mazda. And with these two appointments, at a time when Europe is setting the course for the future of the automotive industry, the Mazda Motor Corporation renews its commitment to the European region and dealer network.”

The Mazda Motor Corporation’s Board of Directors approved the executive personnel line-up to be proposed at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders and the immediately following Board of Directors meeting scheduled for June 2023.

Not only BEVs

Recently, there have been some changes at the top of Japanese car companies. The most important one was Akio Toyoda stepping aside for Koji Sato announced a month ago. Some weeks later, Toyota-related Subaru also announced a change in its top personnel. And now there is the change at Mazda.

What all three new CEOs seem to share is their prudence going electric. Speaking at an endurance race on March 18, Koji Sato gave an outline of what he aims to do when he takes over as Toyota CEO in 2 weeks’ time. He mentioned the importance of exploring non-BEV solutions. “We want to ensure that hydrogen stays a viable option. We need a production and transport supply chain. Unless we see evolution there, we cannot expect a volume increase in the energy’s use.”

While many other automakers on the planet are focusing solely on battery electric vehicles, Sato reckons hydrogen will be the backbone of the Japanese marque’s future. However, Sato is not discounting BEVs. He believes they will also play a crucial role in Toyota’s future alongside hybrid and hydrogen vehicles. “We are making full-fledged efforts on everything. It is important to remain flexible in order to tailor products and energies to different carbon neutral needs in different markets.”

Mazda is also a carmaker not wanting to lay all eggs in the same basket. It has already been experimenting with a rotary engine burning hydrogen, but it is also a member of the so-called e-fuel alliance. In Europe, these ‘cool lovers’ of the full-BEV way to go are apparently joined by BMW, whose CEO Oliver Ziose hasvery  recently confirmed that the Munich car manufacturer stays open for all sorts of drivetrains and will be investing in different kinds of (sustainable) energy solutions, like hydrogen (fuel cell system shared with Toyota) and e-fuels.