(Updates with announcement)
* To build about 2,000 Mazda2s annually for local market
* Car to be assembled by local distributor Vina Mazda
* Factory has maximum output capacity of 10,000 cars/year
TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Mazda Motor Corp said on
Tuesday its Vietnamese partner would start assembling the Mazda2
subcompact at a new factory in central Vietnam from October,
replacing imports from Japan.
Local distributor Vina Mazda Automobile Manufacturing, in
which Mazda has no equity stake, will initially assemble about
2,000 Mazda2s a year at the Quang Nam province plant to serve
the burgeoning Vietnamese market, Mazda said in a statement.
Mazda entered Vietnam in March by making Vina Mazda its
exclusive distributor to sell the Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda6 and
CX-9 imported from Japan and the BT-50 pickup truck from
Thailand.
The Saigon Times Daily reported last month that in addition
to the Mazda2, called the Demio in Japan, the new factory would
be designed to eventually assemble other cars and light trucks
with annual output capacity of 20,000 vehicles. The vehicles
would be sold in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries,
the paper said.
A Mazda spokesman said the factory would have a maximum
capacity of 10,000 vehicles a year and consider adding other
models to the production lineup.
Mazda, like other Japanese automakers, is looking to reduce
vehicle exports from Japan in the face of the strong yen, which
makes it hard for exported cars to be competitively priced or
profitable.
In June, Mazda announced plans to build a factory in Mexico
to produce the Mazda2 and Mazda3 for the Americas.
Shares in Mazda were up 3.7 percent at the midday break in
Tokyo, in line with a strong rise in other Japanese auto stocks.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Michael Watson)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here