Mazda held a grand opening ceremony at Vietnam today to celebrate the beginning of local assembly of its Mazda2 model.
The new plant is located in the Nui Thanh district of Quang Nam province in central Vietnam and was constructed by Vina Mazda Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a 100-percent local car assembly and sales company with no capital ties to Mazda Motor Corporation.
Only last March did Mazda begin to sell completely built-up vehicles in Vietnam including the Mazda2, Mazda3 and Mazda6 and the CX-9, which it imported from Japan, and the Thailand-sourced BT-50 pickup truck.
The decision for the local assembly of the Mazda2 was taken in August. The 75,000-square-meter local plant, which has a yearly production capacity of 10,000 units, will build the 1.5-liter 5-door version of the supermini at an annual rate of 2,000 cars.
"We are confident that the Mazda2 will be warmly accepted by Vietnamese customers despite the extremely competitive compact car segment," said Executive Vice President Kanai.
"Vietnam is one of the largest markets in the ASEAN region, with a large youthful population and promising economic development in recent years. Mazda is strengthening its support of our local manufacturer and distributor in order to ensure our success in Vietnam," he added.
