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Mazda to Build Toyota Vehicles in Mexico
Mazda Motor Corp. has agreed to make a Toyota Motor Corp. subcompact at its new assembly plant in Salamanca, Mexico, starting in mid-2015.
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Mazda Motor Corp. has agreed to make a Toyota Motor Corp. subcompact at its new assembly plant in Salamanca, Mexico, starting in mid-2015.
Mazda says it will produce about 50,000 of the unidentified Toyota-badged vehicles annually for the North American market.
Mazda announced in June 2011 it would join with trading company Sumitomo Corp. to erect the $500 million Mexico factory with annual capacity of 140,000 vehicles. The facility is scheduled to begin building next-generation Mazda2 and Mazda3 small cars during the fiscal year that begins on April 1, 2013.
Toyota says it will contribute an unspecified share of the tooling and development costs for the new model, which will be based on the Mazda2. Mazda has been seeking a partner to share project costs since its 31-year alliance with Ford Motor Co. ended two years ago.
Toyota currently builds its Yaris and Scion small cars in Japan, where the strong yen has made them costly. The company previously said it would shift some Yaris production to Europe and import those models to North America.
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