Kohei Matsuda, 80; Head of Mazda Corp. Owned Baseball Team

Kohei Matsuda, 80, a former president of Mazda Motor Corp. and the owner of the Japanese professional baseball club Hiroshima Toyo Carp, died July 10 of stomach cancer at Keio Gijuku University Hospital in Tokyo.

The grandson of Mazda’s founder, Jujiro Matsuda, he joined the family business--then known as Toyo Kogyo--in 1961 as a vice president.

He helped the Hiroshima-based company introduce the Cosmo sports coupe in 1967, the first car in Japan powered by a rotary engine.

Matsuda became president of Mazda in 1970, succeeding his father, Tsuneji, and steered the automaker through a period of declining earnings.

He retired from the presidency in 1977 and served as chairman for the following three years, overseeing Mazda’s 1979 capital association with Ford Motor Co. Ford now owns about one-third of the Japanese firm.

In 1970, Matsuda became owner of the Hiroshima Carp and invigorated the baseball franchise by instructing scouts to go after young unknown players.

The team won the first of six Central League pennants in 1975, and captured the first of its three Japanese championship titles in 1979.