The Chinese auto market is growing steadily and automakers are taking advantage of this. Major automakers have already established auto facilities in the said Asian country. Ford has tie-ups with Mazda and a Chinese automaker. These facilities will be manufacturing the vehicles which Mazda aims to make popular in the Chinese auto market specifically the B Segment.
The company recently unveiled the Mazda2 known in Japan as the Mazda Demio at the 2007 Guangzhou Motor Show. The redesigned car was designed to attract Chinese auto buyers. The said vehicle will be available to Chinese consumers early next year. It will be manufactured by the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co. Ltd at the Nanjing assembly facility.
"By introducing the four-door sedan and five-door hatchback to the B-car segment in China, we will have completed our product launches in the B, C and CD segments, which represent the three major Chinese vehicle classes," said Noriaki Yamada, COO of Mazda Motor. "The new models will greatly strengthen Mazda's product lineup in China," the executive added.
During the unveiling of the redesigned Mazda2, the Japanese automaker's Senior Managing Executive Officer Kiyoshi Ozaki had this to say: "In fiscal year 2007, we expect to achieve our seventh consecutive year of profit growth and fourth straight year of record profit. Going forward, we will aspire to maintain our current growth by raising our brand value and enhancing our business efficiencies under our new mid-term Mazda Advancement Plan and our long-term vision for technology development, Sustainable Zoom-Zoom. Achieving our mid-term target for China of '300,000 units of production and sales in 2010' will be a key factor in our plans."
Mazda is in a position for growth in China. They have already set up three assembly facilities at the said Asian country which will be tasked with manufacturing vehicles. Satoshi Tachikake, the president and CEO of Mazda Motor China, said: "We have set up a production structure that comprises three facilities: the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Nanjing plant, which was completed in September and features Mazda's latest production and machining technologies, the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile plant in Chongqing, and FAW Car Company in Changchun." That does not include the company's facilities which manufacture auto parts like .
Yamada concluded: "The newly established Mazda Motor (China) Beijing Office will function as the representative of Mazda Motor Corporation. It will establish a reliable sales network by developing a unified brand strategy for the two sales channels and policies that will always benefit the customer. Mazda's core products will be progressively introduced through the two sales channels to strengthen our product lineup. We intend to continue expanding our sales network, from the current 104 dealerships to a total of 160 for both channels by January 2008, and establish over 300 dealers by 2010."