David Klan to Head All Marketing Activities for Mazda North American Operations

IRVINE, Calif., June 26 -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced that David Klan has been named Director of Marketing for the company. In this newly created position, he will be responsible for all U.S.-based advertising and marketing operations, including brand development, business planning and global integration. Klan will report to Brian Colianni, senior vice president, sales and marketing. The position is effective August 1.

Prior to this assignment, Klan was General Manager, Global Brand Marketing, for Mazda Motor Corporation, based in Hiroshima, Japan.

"David brings a wealth of experience in advertising, marketing and global brand building to this new position," said Colianni. "And with the upcoming launches of the MX-5 Miata Power Retractable Hard Top in August, MAZDASPEED3 in September and the all-new seven-passenger CX-9 crossover SUV early in 2007, David's talents will be apparent immediately."

Klan joined Mazda Canada in 1992, and has since held numerous positions in marketing and advertising. From July 2001 until March 2004, he was Director of Marketing at Mazda Canada, overseeing all marketing communications, product planning and strategy, consumer incentives and marketing research. In March 2004, he moved to Japan to oversee global brand marketing, unified global marketing messages and a unified global autoshow strategy.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations 0in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.