L.A.’s Lord, Dentsu Gets Ad Account for Mazda Luxury Car : * Marketing: The $75-million award for the Amati may be the largest new win in Southern California this year.

Mazda Motor of America on Thursday awarded the much-coveted, $75-million advertising account for its new luxury auto division to a Los Angeles agency.

The decision by the Irvine-based division of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. is one of its first strategic steps to create an image for the Amati car line that will be strikingly different from rivals Lexus, Infiniti and Acura.

The account, won by the Los Angeles office of Lord, Dentsu & Partners, will likely be the largest new piece of advertising business in the Los Angeles market this year, industry executives say, and a shot in the arm for an industry battered by the economic slowdown.

Amati, which won’t be sold until 1994, will be competing with other Japanese luxury cars that have successfully challenged European models. And while car sales are generally slipping, the market for these cars continues to expand.

The nameplate will hit the market about eight years after Honda’s Acura division and almost five years after Toyota’s Lexus and Nissan’s Infiniti divisions.

Mazda has a lot of catching up to do, but analysts say its patience may be rewarded.

“By being last, they could sit back and analyze what the other guys did right--and wrong,” said Christopher W. Cedergren, senior vice president at the Santa Ana consulting firm AutoPacific Group.

Mazda has prided itself on successfully going after car niches--such as it did with the sporty Miata, said Peter Brown, editor of Automotive News. “The challenge,” Brown said, “will be distinguishing themselves from Lexus.”

That struggle to differentiate is the “driving force” at Amati, said Richard Colliver, general manager. “

Lord, Dentsu has plenty of time to plan the campaign, since ads are not expected to appear until late 1993. Although the firm will initially bring a sizable support staff from New York, executives say it will eventually hire a number of local employees.

The contract signals the ascension of Lord, Dentsu, an agency that has enjoyed remarkable growth during the recession, from a mid-sized agency to a major player.

“This is the biggest single win in my life,” said Richard J. Lord, chairman of the agency, which is 50% owned by the huge Japanese agency Dentsu and 50% owned by American ad giant Young & Rubicam. Although Lord, Dentsu is headquartered in New York, the advertising and media buying for Amati will be handled out of its Los Angeles office, Lord said.

The key to Lord, Dentsu landing the business were the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of Los Angeles ad veteran Leonard Pearlstein, who was hired as president of the firm last year. “In our heads, we’re already writing ads,” said Pearlstein, whose defunct Los Angeles agency Keye/Donna/Pearlstein once created ads for Suzuki.

Leaping for Luxury

Although car sales in the United States declined 12.1% last year compared to 1990, sales of Japanese luxury imports were up 10.6%. Here are the sales figures of the three major players in the category. When Amati comes aboard in 1994, it will be the fourth.

1991 share of all cars 1991 1990 Percent imported sales sales increase to U.S. Lexus (Toyota) 71,206 63,534 12.0 3.5 Infiniti (Nissan) 34,890 23,960 45.6 1.7 Acura (Honda) 143,708 138,384 3.8 7.1

Source: Ward’s Automotive Reports, Detroit.