Wallace, a famous figure in Japan as the first foreigner to head a major Japanese firm, is to star in Mazda's new advertising campaign.
The 50-year-old Wallace will appear in full-page Mazda advertisments in five major Japanese newspapers on Thursday.
We aim to elevate our image through this ad campaign, a Mazda spokesman said yesterday.
Mazda broke with corporate tradition by putting a foreigner in the driving seat and is doing so again with its new sales promotion - it is rare for a Japanese company to use photos of its top management in a campaign to sell its merchandise.
The ads will have a full picture of Wallace standing to the left and his comments about the company on the right.
Wallace has become something of a celebrity in Japan after being appointed president at Mazda, Japan's fifth largest carmaker, in June.
Seconded by Ford several years ago to help turn around the troubled Japanese automaker, Wallace was given the top spot when Ford increased its equity stake in the company to about one-third.
The new president comes originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, and has been employed by Ford for 25 years. He first joined Ford's British operation.
Mazda decided to use Wallace in its ads as the result of a survey showing that Japanese found him likeable and impressive, the spokesmah said. The survey also showed that they had high expectations for him to succeed in running the distressed company.
Mazda has been struggling with poor demand for most of its cars and has been in the red on a group net basis for the past three years.
The losses were the result of a number of errors in assessing the market, analysts say.
The company failed to profit on a sales boom in medium-class luxury cars after coming into the market too late, and saw operating costs soar by trying to expand its domestic sales network too much, they say.
At the same time, the strong yen cut into its profit on sales of its cars in the United States and other overseas markets.
Mazda is hoping a straight-forward approach in its ad will distinguish it from its rivals and capture the attention of consumers.
The ads displaying Wallace will carry a slogan Practical car, Enjoyable car, That's Mazda.
Mazda will be promoting its new compact recreational vehicle, the Demio, which will debut in Japan on August 26.
Compact recreational vehicles are one of the hottest selling models for all Japanese automakers.
Mazda has had a relationship with Ford for many years. In May, Ford raised its stake in Mazda to 33.4 per cent from 25 per cent which gave it control of the management.
Ford sent Wallace to Japan to represent its interests in Mazda two years ago.
If successful, Wallace may continue appearing in Mazda's future ads, the company spokesman said.
