In 2001, Mazda introduced a facelifted version of its upmarket version Xedos 9, or Millenia on the U.S. market, and tried again to get more customers. But it failed.

At the beginning of the '90s, Mazda tried to launch a premium brand to compete against Infiniti, Acura, and Lexus. The first model which should enter the competition was the Xedos 9/Millenia.