Mazda Motor Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation

Mazda, Sumitomo Begin Construction of Mexican Production Facility

SALAMANCA, Mexico—
Mr. Bruno Ferrari, Minister of Economy of Mexico in representation of Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón, was the guest of honor at a ceremony held today to mark the beginning of construction of a new vehicle production facility jointly owned by Mazda Motor Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation. The joint venture facility is named Mazda Motor Manufacturing de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (MMMdM) and is located in the city of Salamanca, in the state of Guanajuato.

The ceremony was hosted by Mazda Motor Corporation’s Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Takashi Yamanouchi, and Sumitomo’s Executive Vice President, Kazuo Ohmori, on the site where the plant will be built. Attending dignitaries included the Guanajuato State Governor, Juan Manuel Oliva, the Mayor of Salamanca, Antonio Ramírez, the General Director of ProMéxico, Carlos Guzmán, the President of the Economic Commission of the State Congress, Alejandro Rangel, and Japan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mexico, Shuichiro Megata. In total, approximately 400 people attended the ceremony.

“Since Mazda established its sales network in Mexico six years ago, we have experienced a remarkable acceptance from the people of Mexico. Last year Mazda sold over twenty-five thousand vehicles and captured over three percent market share,” said Mazda’s President Yamanouchi. “We are excited to be constructing this new facility here in Mexico with our partner Sumitomo Corporation. It will be vital to bolstering our expansion in Central and South America.”

Sumitomo’s Executive Vice President Ohmori said, “The state of Guanajuato and the Sumitomo Group have a lot in common. Both were established over 400 years ago and developed through a history of mining. We also share the value of respect for people and the desire to contribute to society and grow together with our partners. By integrating our strengths with those of our strategic partner Mazda Motor Corporation, and those of Mexico and of Japan, I believe our joint venture will grow to become world-class, and will help us to contribute to the development of both countries.”

Through the new manufacturing facility, Mazda and Sumitomo intend to combine their individual strengths in order to enhance both companies’ business in the rapidly growing Central and South American markets. The new facility will include both vehicle and engine assembly plants and will commence operations in the fiscal year ending March 2014 with an annual production capacity of 140,000 units. It will produce Mazda2 (Mazda Demio in Japan) and Mazda3 (Mazda Axela in Japan) models.

 

It's great to not see FORD mentioned anywhere near this ........ for a change..

 

Old news.. I knew about this an hour and sixteen minutes ago.

Would have been nice to have in the US. I shall end on that note.

 

1 Hour 14 minutes ago for me..

Why would Mazda build anything ever gain in NA when Flat Rock was and is a quality disaster among many other things and all too hard.

 

well they could have put it over here near me. got sea and rail ports for moving everything about and i could have a job in the QC dept

 

lol I must have miss calculated.

 

BTW..Some are saying the MMMM plant will only make the two small Mazda's for South American market, may be initially, but why wouldn't they take advantage of exporting to the US market.

Naturally this is their intention...after all Ford does it with their Fiesta....this will be Mazda's most modern plant in their world.

 

It should have been in the U.S., but cheap labor still wins.

 

That's what I've been thinking so I suspect you may be correct.

Paul.