Mazda Drops B-Series Pickup From US Lineup - PickupTrucks.com
After 37 years in the U. S. market, Mazda has dropped the B-Series compact pickup truck. The first Mazda B-Series pickups were imported into the U. S. from Japan in 1972. Their small size and relatively fuel efficient sub-2. 0-liter, four-cylinder engines would prove to be very popular with American truck buyers -- along with similar trucks offered by Toyota and Nissan -- during the oil shocks of the 1970s. Mazda broke new ground with the B-Series when it became the... The 1974-77 Mazda featured a 110-horsepower Wankel motor that could hit well above 7,000 rpm. The second-generation 1980-85 Mazda B-Series debuted with larger 2. 0-liter and 2. 2-liter four pot engines. Mazda spent more than $100 million to design and develop the third-generation 1986-93 B-Series pickups to specifically meet the needs of the U. S. market, Mazda’s largest. Ford stopped using the B-Series platform and started domestic production of the all-new Ford Ranger compact pickup in 1982. Beginning in the 1960s, Japanese imported pickups were slapped with a 25% federal tariff on every unit during a trade... Source: news.pickuptrucks.com
