OREANDA-NEWS. March 01, 2011. Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that for the fourth year running it will be the main sponsor for Japan's all-star baseball games organized by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. For the first time in ten years, there will be three all-star games instead of the usual two.

The Mazda All-Star Games 2011 will be played at the Nagoya Dome on July 22, at the Tokyo Dome on July 23, and at the QVC Marine Field in Chiba on July 24, 2011.

Mazda will begin the global introduction of its breakthrough SKYACTIV technologies in 2011 and decided to continue its association with the all-star baseball games in the hope that its upcoming SKYACTIV vehicles will become as popular as the all-star games.

Mazda's new SKYACTIV technologies include engines, transmissions and other major vehicle components. The aim of SKYACTIV is to offer driving pleasure as well as outstanding environmental and safety performance to all Mazda customers. The first model to feature SKYACTIV technologies will be the Mazda Demio (known overseas as the Mazda2) which will launch initially in Japan in the first half of 2011. It will be powered by the SKYACTIV-G direct-injection gasoline engine and achieve significantly improved fuel economy of 30 kilometers per liter (measured under Japan's 10-15 mode test cycle).