Mazda will always be known as the company to have continued the development of Wankel engines when every other automaker has considered that venture to be a losing one. But today, Mazda has successfully created fuel efficient Wankel engines with a power output which can be compared to conventional four-cylinder engines. The company is currently under a massive change. It is now slowly becoming a major player in the global auto market.

Seven years ago, Mazda has started this evolution which today has now become the Zoom Zoom generation. And the automaker is showing its step forward by coming up with concept cars which carries styling cues and technology which will soon be available to consumers. At the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, the automaker is once again expected to attract the attention of the whole industry when it unveils its newest concept cars. It can be remembered that a couple of years ago, Mazda unveiled the Sassou concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Today, that concept car has become the Mazda2 light car.

Mazda's Australian managing director Doug Dickson said that Mazda has left its trouble behind. "Mazda was always known for innovation and design. But in the late 1990s we lost our way in Japan when we went through a period of grow or die. Eunos was introduced and other things which didn't work because the Japanese bubble burst, and we didn't have the sales volumes to sustain all the different series we introduced," Dickson pronounced.

It was during that time when Ford injected more capital to the Japanese automaker. With Ford stepping in and acquiring more than one-third of the company, Mazda was saved from bankruptcy. But that also means that the company still does not have enough money to pour into the development and production of many platforms. But with the company now becoming more and more profitable, they can now pour in money into the production of new vehicles. "Provided we don't go through that exercise again, then what's really happening is just a continuation of a design and engineering-led ethos that's been around since the front-wheel drive 323," said Dickson.

In the United States, Mazda has already started selling the Mazda Tribute Hybrid. But hybrid vehicle is only available in California. According to the automaker that manufactures high quality vehicles and auto parts such as Mazda fuel injectors, they have already sold seven units out of the 350 units they are aiming to sell initially. Unlike other hybrid vehicles which are no longer available with tax credits, the new 2008 Mazda Tribute Hybrid comes with tax credits from $2,500 to $3,000. With an FWD Tribute Hybrid, consumers can avail of the $3,000 tax credit while with the AWD version of the hybrid vehicle the government is offering a $2,500 tax credit.

The said vehicle is powered by a 2.3-liter 113-hp inline-four-cylinder engine. According to the automaker though, they have very little to do in the development of the tribute Hybrid. This is because it uses the same platform and drivetrain of the Ford Escape Hybrid.