As a preview, testing the waters, a larger 'Mazda 700' prototype was shown at the eighth Tokyo Motor Show in 1961, and formed the basis for the upcoming Mazda Familia. To achieve this goal, they began by building an extremely affordable kei car, the R360 in 1960, planning on introducing gradually larger and pricier cars as the Japanese customers became able to afford them. Mazda's automotive plans for the early sixties consisted of growing alongside the Japanese economy. Some of these plants kept manufacturing the Familia long after it was discontinued at home. Mazda Familias were manufactured in the Hiroshima Plant and also assembled from ' knock-down kits' in various countries including Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Colombia, and New Zealand. In addition, the Familia name was used as the Mazda Familia Wagon/Van, a badge-engineered version of the Nissan AD wagon (1994–2017) and Toyota Probox (2018–present). The Familia was also rebranded as the Ford Laser and Ford Meteor in Asia, Oceania, Southern Africa, some Latin American countries and, from 1991, as the Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer in North America. In Europe, all Familias sold after 1977 were called '323'. In North America, the 1200 was replaced by the Mazda GLC, with newer models becoming '323' and 'Protegé'. For export, earlier models were sold with nameplates including: '800', '1000', '1200', and '1300'.

It was marketed as the Familia in Japan, which means 'family' in Latin.

The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. The Mazda Familia ( Japanese: マツダファミリア, Matsuda Famiria), also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 19. Mazda Familia Wagon (BG generation, station wagon version)

Protege car size type