Mazda Cronos

The Mazda Cronos was a sedan that Mazda launched in November 1991 in Japan to replace the Capella name on the fifth-generation GE platform, while the hatchback version of the same platform was launched as the efini MS-6 under Mazda's efini brand. Both cars were slightly narrower than the export Mazda 626 models so as to meet Japanese tax rules, and in nearly all export markets the GE cars continued to be sold as the Mazda 626. In Canada the car was originally known as the 626 Cronos before the name was dropped for the 1996 model year. The Cronos name was retired in 1997 when the sixth-generation Capella on the GF platform brought the Capella, 626 and Telstar back to a common platform.