"Zoom, zoom." Do you still remember how enthusiastic you were while playing with your toy car during your early childhood? "Zoom, zoom," is the typical sound of a child joyfully playing with a toy car.

And now, all grown up, do you still want to feel that same excitement driving a real car?

At the end of this year, you will have the chance to drive just such an exciting car, because Mazda will market its new car here, and that is Mazda Motor's promise to the Indonesian market.

Mazda promises its car buyers that they will experience the thrill experienced as a child in its cars. And, after abandoning the Southeast Asian region for years, the company is set to launch a massive effort to come "zoom-zooming" back very soon.

But how will the market respond, especially as the car brand has been practically absent on the roads for such a long period of time? Many Indonesians still remember the quality of Mazda cars and the excitement of driving them. But apart from quality, there are other reasons people buy a car, like the price, the after sales service, and the price of Mazda used cars.

Mazda Motor Indonesia (MMI) president director Yoshiya Horigome acknowledged the negative perceptions, but added that his company has taken major measures in the last three years to meet consumers' demands, including after sales service improvements.

Mazda recently invited a group of journalists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to its headquarters in Hiroshima to attend the corporation's Brand Forum, the first time the company had invited journalists from this region.

The forum was a part of the company's ambitious goal to re-enter the regional market after abandoning the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for several years.

During the one-day forum, journalists were allowed to inspect Mazda cars, including its newest model, which the company expects will be able to surpass the success of the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Jazz in the hatchback car market: The Mazda2.

This car (called Mazda Demio in Japan) has undergone a significant face-lift to readjust to the market demands in the Southeast Asian region. Manufactured in Thailand, the automotive hub of the region, the Mazda2 will enter the Indonesian market in the fourth quarter of this year.

Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to enjoy any "zoom-zoom" excitement.

In the words of Yuji Nakamine, Mazda's managing executive officer and general manager of the overseas sales division, the corporation was attempting to re-establish a strong presence in the regional market, although it realized the car's brand name image was weak because of its long absence from the streets, in Indonesia's case, for the last three years

Most Indonesians who had the chance to drive or own a Mazda agreed on Mazda quality and on the "zoom-zoom" experience. But after abandoning the market for such a long time, there are perhaps only a few people who still recall the brand.

Nakamine acknowledged that "in the 1990s we failed to establish a strong brand" in Southeast Asia, because its concentrated on its markets in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia.

In March 2007, the company launched the "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom" plan, which emphasized the harmonization of driving performance, safety and the environment, building vehicles that enticed you to drive them, that were fun to drive.

In June 2008, it announced the goal of renewing its current engine and transmission lineup and is working to raise the average fuel efficiency of Mazda cars sold worldwide by 30 percent by 2015.

Mazda is pursuing the use of hydrogen, which is widely considered to be a next-generation fuel, and claims it has been making steady progress in the development of hydrogen rotary engine vehicles.

"With the Mazda2 entering the Indonesian market, I believe we can increase our annual sales to 10,000 cars in the next three years," said Horigome.

Last year, the sales figures were 2,200 vehicles.

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