Mazda to build Toyota cars from 2015
Mazda Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) have announced a production plan that will see Mazda produce Toyota vehicles at its Salamanca city plant in Mexico from 2015.
The Mazda plant, currently under construction, will build the Mazda2-based sub-compact Toyota destined for sale mainly in North America, at a rate of 50,000 units a year once production begins.
The agreement sees an investment by Toyota into production equipment and model development costs, as well as costs related to the plant’s production-capacity increase following its scheduled Mazda-vehicle production start by March 2014.
Mazda says the new plant will produce 140,000 units annually and employ approximately 3000 workers.
The agreement shows an increasing bond between the two top-selling car makers after a partnership was formed in 2010 that saw Toyota supply Mazda with its hybrid technology under licence.