Mazda expands plan for Mexican factory
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Mazda Motor Corp. said capacity at the plant it is building in Mexico will be 21 percent larger than originally planned.
The Salamanca, Mexico, factory, which will make Mazda2 and Mazda3 small cars when it opens in 2014, will have capacity to produce 230,000 vehicles a year by March 2016, the company said today in a statement.
The factory also will make cars for Toyota Motor Corp.
Mazda said in November that the plant would be able to build 190,000 cars annually, including 50,000 small cars it will build for Toyota.
"This production capacity increase is an important part of Mazda's drive to strengthen its overseas production base as laid out in our medium- to long-term plan," Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said in a statement.
Mazda's move into Mexico follows similar announcements by Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., which are all seeking lower-cost production facilities to make small cars for North America.
Unlike Toyota, Honda and Nissan, Mazda imports all its vehicles sold in the United States.
-- Bloomberg
