Not to be outdone by shareholder Ford’s Verve sedan ‘concept,’ Mazda this week unveiled the production 2 (Demio in Japan) sedan at the 2007 Guangzhou motor show.
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The new sedan is Mazda’s first in this segment since the early 1990s 121 and, for China, will be produced by Changan Ford Mazda Automobile in Nanjing. Sales start in the first half of next year through the Changan Mazda Motor Sales Company’s dealer network.
Mazda Motor (China) president and COO Noriaki Yamada said: “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. The new models will greatly strengthen Mazda’s product lineup in China.”
Senior managing executive officer Kiyoshi Ozaki told a press conference to launch the new car that Mazda expects to achieve its seventh consecutive year of profit growth and fourth straight year of record profit in fiscal 2007.
“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,” he added.
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By GlobalDataThe China unit’s president and CEO Satoshi Tachikake noted: “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 the latest production and machining technologies, the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile plant in Chongqing, and FAW Car Company in Changchun.”
Mazda is also updating its sales network in order to achieve its mid-term target. In addition to the existing FAW Mazda Motor Sales (FMSC), Changan Mazda Motor Sales (CMSC) has been newly established, and sales will commence through the two channels from January 2008.
Noriaki Yamada, in charge of China sales, said: “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 line-up. 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.”
Mazda’s next launch in China is the 5 minivan, a model already on sale in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Sales begin next month.
The 3 five-door hatchback, a core model sold mainly in Europe, Japan and Asia is due to reach Chinese dealers during the first half of 2008.
Mazda had earlier been forced to voluntarily halt 3 production in China for nine months after failing to properly obtain government approval to build and distribute the cars in the country.
The 2 hatchback and sedan models will be launched via the new CMSC channel. Hatchback production began in Nanjing plant at the end of October with sales set to start in January.
Ford shows Verve sedan ‘concept’
