Mazda Motor Corp. is set to announce on Friday plans for a new factory in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
Mazda Motor Corp. is set to announce on Friday plans for a new factory in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The plant will be the fourth overseas assembly site for the Japanese automaker after the United States, China and Thailand — all joint ventures with former top shareholder Ford Motor Co.
Construction of the new plant in Mexico is set to begin this fall, with vehicle production to start in the second half of 2013, the source said on condition of anonymity because the information is not yet public.
Mazda plans to build compact cars, initially for sale in Mexico and South America, and eventually export to North America, the source said. The investment is likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, to be shared with trading company Sumitomo Corp., a second source said. The factory will have initial capacity to build at least 50,000 cars a year.
Mazda is set to make the announcement along with its financial forecasts for the business year ending March 2012, the first source said.
Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes said the company doesn’t comment on speculation.
It was not immediately clear how the decision to build a plant in Mexico would influence Mazda’s future plans for its joint venture with Ford at the AutoAlliance plant in Flat Rock, Mich. Mazda said last week it would cease making the Mazda6 sedan at the plant by mid-2012. It continues to study what to do at the Michigan plant, which also makes the Mustang for Ford.
