The Mazda Millenia is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

which was manufactured by

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1993 to 2002. The Millenia was originally planned as the second of three models for Mazda's proposed luxury brand

Amati Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò A ...

. As the company's dwindling finances caused by the onslaught of the "

bubble economy An economic bubble (also called a speculative bubble or a financial bubble) is a period when current asset prices greatly exceed their intrinsic valuation, being the valuation that the underlying long-term fundamentals justify. Bubbles can be ...

" prevented the launch of the Amati brand, the Millenia was released in the autumn of 1993 in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as the Mazda Xedos 9 and in Japan and Australia as the Eunos 800. The car was launched in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in 1995 as the Mazda Millenia and in July 1997 the Japanese market Eunos 800 was also renamed to Mazda Millenia as Mazda discontinued the Eunos brand. There was no model link to the other Mazda marque, Ẽfini. Having been developed for a separate market from typical Mazda customers, the Millenia boasted myriad finer details. It was engineered to far greater levels of perceived quality than existing Mazda cars, such as interior plastic quality, panel gap and thicker paint coating. The Millenia/Eunos 800/Xedos 9 was assembled along with the smaller

Eunos 500 500 may refer to: * 500 (number) * 500 BC * AD 500 Buildings and places * 500 Boylston Street of Boston * 500 Brickell in Miami * 500 Capitol Mall in Sacramento * 500 Fifth Avenue * 500 Renaissance Center, one of seven buildings in the GM Rena ...

Mazda Xedos 6 The Mazda Xedos 6 and Eunos 500 are compact executive cars that were produced between 1992 and 1999, with the Xedos 6 being sold in Europe by Mazda, and the Eunos 500 being sold in Japan and Australia by Eunos. The cars were not sold in North A ...

in a new production line, presumably set up for Amati cars. The Millenia does not have a direct predecessor or replacement in the Mazda product line, and production ceased with the introduction of the

Mazda6 The Mazda6 (known as the Mazda Atenza in Japan and China, derived from the Italian '' attenzione'') is a mid-size sedan produced by Mazda since 2002, replacing the long-produced Capella/626. The Mazda6 was marketed as the first example of the co ...

in 2002, itself a replacement for the 626. It appears to have received a brand-new platform, although the

multi-link suspension A multi-link suspension is a type of vehicle suspension with one or more longitudinal arms. A wider definition can consider any independent suspensions having three control links or more multi-link suspensions. These arms do not have to be of eq ...

at both ends strongly resembled that of the 1991

Mazda Sentia The Mazda Sentia is a mid-size rear wheel drive luxury car that was sold by Mazda in Japan from 1991 to 1999 over two generations. It replaced the Mazda Luce nameplate on the Mazda H platform, and continued the tradition of being Mazda's larges ...

, with minor changes such as replacing the lower I-arm with an A-arm for front wheel drive. It was the only production car in the world to employ a

Miller cycle In engineering, the Miller cycle is a thermodynamic cycle used in a type of internal combustion engine. The Miller cycle was patented by Ralph Miller, an American engineer, dated Dec 24, 1957. The engine may be two- or four-stroke and may be r ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

(The current Demio/Mazda2 features Miller Cycle on one of its engines). Yaw-sensitive

four-wheel steering Steering is a system of components, linkages, and other parts that allows a driver to control the direction of the vehicle. Introduction The most conventional steering arrangement allows a driver to turn the front wheels of a vehicle using ...

was available as an option in Japan; Mazda claimed that with this feature, the Millenia was capable of passing the

elk test The evasive manoeuvre test (Swedish: ''Undanmanöverprov''; colloquial: moose test or elk test; Swedish: ''Älgtest'', German: ''Elchtest'') is performed to determine how well a certain vehicle evades a suddenly appearing obstacle. This test has ...

at speeds comparable to the BMW 850i and

Nissan 300ZX The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z. It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...

. The 1997 Japanese market name change from Eunos 800 to Mazda Millenia was accompanied by a significant facelift that included some cost-saving measures. For instance, the

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was downgraded from aluminum to steel. The Millenia was again facelifted for the 2001 model year.

European designation

The Mazda Xedos 9 was a

luxury car A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...

for Mazda of

. Sold between 1993 and 2002, the Xedos 9 was the export version of Mazda's upscale Eunos 800 on the Mazda T platform. Engines: * 2.5 L KL-DE V6 * 2.25 L KJ-ZEM V6 (

) * 2.0 L V6, same as the unit found in the Xedos6

Japanese designation

The Eunos 800 was sold in Japan from 1993 through 1998. It was exported as the

Xedos 9 The Mazda Millenia is an automobile which was manufactured by Mazda in Japan from 1993 to 2002. The Millenia was originally planned as the second of three models for Mazda's proposed luxury brand Amati. As the company's dwindling finances caused ...

and used the Mazda T platform. The Eunos 800 was also sold as a Eunos 800 in Australia, as both the 800M, with the Miller Cycle engine and the base 800, with the 2.5-litre engine. Both engines are slightly detuned compared to the Japanese spec engines, most likely because 95 octane fuel was the maximum octane rated fuel available in Australia at that time. Engines: * 2.5 L KL-ZE V6 * 2.25 L KJ-ZEM V6 (

)

North American market

The car was launched in

in 1994 (as a 1995 model year) as the Mazda Millenia, and would eventually replace the

929 Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 16 – Emir Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba proclaims himself caliph and create ...

as Mazda's flagship sedan offering in North America. The 929 had been the last non-luxury marque

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

Japanese import sedan since the discontinuation of the

Toyota Cressida The is a compact, later mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed in Japan by Toyota between 1968 and 2004. Prior to 1972, the model was marketed as the Toyota Corona Mark II. In some export markets, Toyota marketed the vehicle as the Toyota Cres ...

in 1992, whereas the Millenia was

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...

, and thus only capable of giving rivalry to the

Nissan Maxima The Nissan Maxima is a full-size car manufactured and marketed by Nissan and offered as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, and China — and currently in its eighth generation. Having debuted for model year 1 ...

at the time. The Millenia was available in the U.S. with (The "Millenia S" spec) or without the Miller Cycle engine. Three models were offered; the base model, the mid-level Millenia with standard leather upholstery, power moonroof and remote keyless entry and the top-of-the-line S model which featured traction control, heated front seats, heavy duty wipers and the 2.3-liter V6 Miller-cycle engine. The Miller cycle engine has a shorter compression stroke and a belt driven air compressor (essentially a supercharger) Engines: * 2.5 L KL-DE V6 * 2.3 L KJ-ZEM V6 (

) (slightly modify version of the 2.25 L version sold in other markets but has same engine code)

Eunos 800M SP

Mazda Motorsport Australia released a limited edition Eunos 800M SP with improved suspension and larger alloy wheel and tyre combination, but with no modifications to the engine.

Gallery

File:Mazda Xedos 9.JPG, Mazda Xedos 9 (Europe) File:Eunos 800 001.JPG, Eunos 800 2.5 (pre-facelift) File:Mazda Millenia 003.JPG, 1998-2000 Mazda Millenia (Japan) File:1998-2000 Mazda Millenia rear.jpg, 1998-2000 Mazda Millenia (Japan) File:98-02 Mazda Millenia.jpg, 2001-2002 Mazda Millenia (US)

Amati

The first mention of the

luxury brand was in ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...

'' magazine February 1992 page 118, the article written by Maryann N. Keller. In the June 1992 issue, the Amati logo was displayed in green, and they mentioned that the advertising campaign was to be handled by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

based Lord, Dentsu & Partners who had an advertising campaign budget of $75 million, with a launch to be slated at the end of 1993. The November 1993 issue on page 18 stated that after Amati had been cancelled due to recession, the Millenia was originally to be sold as an Amati. Production for the Millenia ended in 2002, without replacement. Engines: * 2.5 L KL-DE V6 * 2.3 L KJ-ZEM V6 (

) -

Specifications and performance

References

{{North American Mazda vehicles Millenia Front-wheel-drive vehicles Executive cars Mid-size cars Sedans Cars introduced in 1993 2000s cars