Mazda Creates Brand Academy Promotion Department in Oct. 1 Organizational and Personnel Shake-Up
Mazda will establish a Mazda Brand Academy Promotion Department and abolish its Domestic Business Development Department as part of organizational and personnel changes effective October 1, 2026.
- October 1, 2026
- 200,000
- 2030
What Happened
Mazda Motor Corporation has announced a package of organizational and personnel changes that take effect on October 1, 2026. The reorganization sits under the company's domestic business reform, which it says is based on Brand Value Management. The stated vision is a Japanese market where Mazda continues to be chosen by 200,000 customers by 2030. Mazda says the moves are meant to accelerate its retail operations transformation and strengthen on-site support from a customer-centric perspective.
200,000customers
The milestone named in Mazda's domestic business reform, which the October 1 changes are meant to accelerate.
- A new Mazda Brand Academy Promotion Department is established to promote adoption and embedding of Brand Value Management across dealerships and retail stores, consolidating brand engagement and training functions from the Domestic Brand Communication Department plus the domestic business dashboard, dealership business operation system renewal, and digital transformation (DX) promotion.
- Operations and management of the brand space MAZDA TRANS AOYAMA move from the Domestic Brand Communication Department to the Brand Experience Creation Department of the Brand Experience Promotion Division, to further enhance brand experience value for customers.
- Product public relations strategy planning and domestic product-domain public relations functions move from the Domestic Brand Communication Department into the Media Relation Department of the Corporate Communications Division, which Mazda says will deepen relationships with domestic automotive media and journalists and strengthen product communications for the Japanese market.
- Dealership network planning and promotion functions move from the Domestic Business Development Department to the Retail Operation Promotion Department, dashboard and dealership operation platform renewal and DX functions move to the Mazda Brand Academy Promotion Department, and the Domestic Business Development Department is abolished.
Central to the reshuffle is the Mazda Brand Academy, which Mazda describes as an initiative designed to support the implementation and embedding of the Mazda Brand Standards — the standards that define the brand experience Mazda aims to deliver to customers at dealership operations. Through that initiative, Mazda and its dealerships work together to create a consistent customer experience and enhance brand value. The newly created Mazda Brand Academy Promotion Department brings together the brand engagement and training functions that had been housed in the Domestic Brand Communication Department. Mazda says this framework will accelerate the transformation of its retail operations.
- New: General Manager, Mazda Brand Academy Promotion Dept. — previously General Manager, Domestic Business Development Dept.
- New: Deputy General Manager, Domestic Brand & Business Management Div. and General Manager, Domestic Business Strategy Planning Dept. — previously General Manager, Domestic Business Strategy Planning Dept.
- New: General Manager, Customer Service Div. and Deputy General Manager, Domestic Brand & Business Management Div. — previously General Manager, Customer Service Div.
- Hisashi Okazawa: Manager, Engine Design Engineering Dept., becomes General Manager, Engine Design Engineering Dept.
- Toshihide Yamamoto: General Manager and General Research Manager, Technical Research Center, becomes General Manager, Technical Research Center.
- Masanori Honda: becomes Deputy General Manager Technical Research Center and Senior Principal Engineer, KURUMA Development Div., from Deputy General Manager and General Research Manager, Technical Research Center and Senior Principal Engineer, KURUMA Development Div.
- Suguru Ikeda and Chikara Kawamura: each moves from Research Manager to General Research Manager, Technical Research Center.
- Tomoki Hirohata: General Manager, Field Quality Dept. No.2, becomes General Manager, Field Quality Dept. No.1.
- Yosuke Shimai: General Manager, Engine Design Engineering Dept., KURUMA Development Div., becomes General Manager, Field Quality Dept. No.2, Quality Div.
- Sangyou Jo: dispatched to Kansai Mazda Co., Ltd. as Representative Director and President, from the same role at Hokuriku Mazda Co., Ltd.
- Takashi Suto: dispatched to Mazda Credit, Inc. as Senior Advisor, from Representative Director and President at Kansai Mazda Co., Ltd.
- Satoshi Aratake: dispatched to Mazda North American Operations as Vice President, from General Manager, Field Quality Dept. No.1.
Previously from Mazda
Mazda has issued a run of personnel announcements in recent months. Personnel changes took effect on August 1, 2026, reassigning managers at corporate divisions and dispatching executives to Changan Mazda and Mazda Motor (China). A separate personnel change effective September 10, 2026 involved Susumu Niinai, then dispatched to Japan Climate Systems Corporation as a senior advisor.
- Mazda Announces Aug. 1 Personnel Changes with Executive Moves to China and ASEAN Units
- Mazda Announces Personnel Change for Susumu Niinai Effective September 10
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Mazda's official releases.
Why this matters
The overhaul targets Mazda's Japanese dealerships and retail stores, where the company wants to embed its Brand Value Management approach and make the in-store customer experience more consistent. It also reshapes who leads domestic brand, customer service, quality and engineering functions, and moves several executives into overseas and affiliate roles.
Terms in This Story
- Brand Value Management
- An approach in which the value customers attach to a brand — and the experience they have with it — is treated as a central driver of business decisions.
- Mazda Brand Academy
- An initiative designed to support the implementation and embedding of the Mazda Brand Standards, which define the brand experience Mazda aims to deliver to customers at dealership operations.
- DX (digital transformation)
- The use of digital technology to change how a company runs its operations and serves its customers.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.