Mazda aims to evolve mobility technologies to further cultivate connections among people and between people and society, and thereby build a social contribution model that will enrich lives by offering safe, secure, and unrestricted mobility to people everywhere. At the same time, the Company will move forward with initiatives to enhance brand value through active social contributions capitalizing on its strengths as a vehicle manufacturer.
CREATING A SYSTEM THAT ENRICHES PROPLE'S LIVES
Basic Approach
Initiatives
Social Contributions Capitalizing on Strengths as a Vehicle Manufacturer
Mazda promotes various initiatives to help resolve social issues, taking advantage of technologies and skills that the Company has cultivated thus far. While valuing dialogues and co-creation with its stakeholders, Mazda aims to help realize a sustainable society.
Test of Shared Mobility Service Leveraging Mobility Technologies
Mazda is leveraging mobility technologies to help foster communities where local residents help one another, assisted by drivers from inside and outside the community, and promote real-life discoveries, experiences, and growth through human interactions.
The Company believes that this is the way to create a more people-oriented world that allows people to really experience the joy of life. Recent years have witnessed the dilapidation of public transportation systems in depopulated areas in hilly and mountainous regions of Japan, and this is becoming a serious social issue. To address this, in December 2018 the Company started testing a shared mobility service utilizing its connectivity technologies, in cooperation with local residents and prefectural and city authorities in Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. In this project, the Company is in charge of developing a transportation service management system and application software for users. The Company is in the process of coming up with ideas to improve the convenience of the service through communication with the local community while having residents of the testing sites—the Kawanishi district and Sakugi-cho area of Miyoshi City—continue using the service and verifying its benefits.
Mazda is implementing various measures to ensure seamlessly connected mobility of people and goods inside and outside the community by linking its shared mobility service with local events and with everyday services such as shipping and collection of agricultural products, delivery of food products, and support for everyday issues. The Company thereby strives to create a sustainable service that will be used by as many people as possible and will help invigorate the community.
Trial of the shared mobility service (Photo courtesy of Kawanishi Residents Association)
Outline of Shared Mobility Service Testing
Collaboration and Coordination for Creating Everyday Value in Higashihiroshima City
In December 2021, Mazda concluded a collaboration and coordination agreement with Hakuhodo Inc. and Higashihiroshima City aimed at creating everyday value and new lifestyles for people living in this city. As part of the agreement, Mazda’s renewable energy insight and EV and other mobility technologies will be used to help provide sustainable lifestyles for people living in the hilly and mountainous regions of Japan and to contribute to the realization of a more enriching society through a circular economy. As one part of our efforts to develop sustainable communities, we are working together with community members to address community issues through such means as enhancing infrastructure for supporting child-rearing and preventing the destruction of woodland areas on the outskirts of communities. Furthermore, in October Mazda began taking part in a community co-creation project to shape the future of Higashihiroshima City’s Fukutomi district through the utilization of such woodland areas.*
* For more information, please refer to the press release (in Japanese only).
Support for Disaster Evacuees Needing to Spend the Night in a Car
By leveraging its knowledge as an automobile manufacturer, in response to a recent rise in the frequency of unexpected disasters, Mazda has launched an original kit containing emergency items that are useful for disaster evacuees in spending the night in a car. The kit includes goods that enable evacuees to spend the night as comfortably as possible in a car, such as pressure socks, which help reduce the risk of suffering from economy class syndrome, as well as portable toilets and a water bag. The kit also includes jumper cables, which are helpful if the car battery dies. In the aftermath of a disastrous torrential downpour in Japan in July 2020, Mazda sent this kit to disaster-affected areas so that it could be used in support and recovery activities. We have two types available: the “Emergency Disaster Prevention and Overnight Car Sleeping Set (10L)” with a full set of contents, and the more affordable “Emergency Disaster Prevention and Overnight Car Sleeping Set (5L)”.
Mazda original emergency kit for spending the night in a car