Mazda Motor Corp. (IW 1000/146) announced on Thursday that it will build a transmission plant with an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 units in the Chonburi Province of Thailand.
The company will invest 26 billion yen (US$ 281 million) Mazda due to increasing demand for models featuring SkyActiv Technology.
The overall company goal is to strengthen its global production footprint. "Mazda is establishing global production footprints in order to achieve our goal of annual global sales volume of 1.7 million units by fiscal year ending March 2016,” said CEO Takashi Yamanouchi.
The new transmission plant will be located north of Mazda's joint venture production facility, AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (AAT) and will supply SlyActiv -Drive automatic transmissions for models produced at AAT as well as other Mazda vehicle production facilities globally.
“The Nakanoseki district of Hofu Plant will remain the chief production facility for transmissions, but we have decided to establish a second major transmission plant in Thailand's Chonburi Province,”Yamanouchi said.
Operations at the new plant will begin in the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2016.
