Mazda Motor Europe has announced today the appointment of Jiro Maebayashi, currently general manager of the basic design department in Hiroshima HQ, to vice president of Mazda’s European research and development centre (MRE) in Oberursel, near Frankfurt.

Maebayashi replaces Kiyoshi Fujiwara, who has held the position since March 2003. Fujiwara will take over as general manager of the product planning and business strategy division at company headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan.

Maebayashi, has worked for Mazda Motor Corporation for 33 years, holding a variety of positions, including manager and general manager positions at Mazda’s research and development centres in the US and in Yokohama, Japan. Prior to this, he was chief programme engineer for the first generation of the Mazda Demio and was a developing engineer for the first and second generation of the rotary-engine Mazda RX-7.