‘Toyo Cork Kogyo’, which would eventually become Mazda, was founded by Jujiro Matsuda in Hiroshima, 100 years ago (January 30, 1920). The company, which produced cork, was saved from bankruptcy by Hiroshima Savings Bank in the late 1920s. The near death experience allowed the board of the company  to reconsider their product offerings. They reorganized in 1931 as Toyo Kogyo Co and introduced the three-wheeled Mazda-Go auto-rickshaw, beginning the company’s endeavor into automobiles.

The company’s first real car, the Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, about the time the company formed a partnership with German company NSU to develop the Wankel rotary engine.