Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing Thailand (MPMT), a new arm of Mazda Motor Corporation, will supply the Japanese car maker's global production facilities as they cope with growing demand for automatic transmissions.
Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing Thailand
According to president and chief executive Hidenori Kawakami, the new transmission plant, which began production on Jan 13, will help reduce an overload at transmission factories in Japan, where 1.14 million units are made.
MPMT has an annual production capacity of 400,000 units.
"The Nakanoseki district's Hofu plant will remain the chief production facility for transmissions, but we have decided to establish a second major transmission plant in Thailand's Chon Buri province," Mr Kawakami said.
"This will enable Mazda to cope with rapidly increasing demand for SkyActiv models and establish a production system capable of responding to the changing demands of our customers in a flexible and timely manner."
Mazda's transmission plant is about five kilometres north of Mazda's joint-venture facility, AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT), and will supply Mazda's SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmissions for models assembled at AAT and other Mazda sites worldwide.
"Of total production in Thailand, 300,000 units will be slated for shipment to Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as China and Mexico," Mr Kawakami said.
Mazda spent ¥26 billion (7.18 billion baht) in 2013 to build the transmission plant, which won Board of Investment (BoI) privileges. For the first year of operation in 2015, MPMT expects to employ 275 workers in making 250,000 transmission units (63% of production capacity).
MPMT was set up under the same structure and standards as the Hofu plant in Japan.
Mazda's production footprint in Thailand also includes vehicle bodies made at AAT in Rayong's Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, plus a SkyActiv engine plant now under construction.
Founded in 1995, AAT is a joint venture with US giant Ford Motor and has an annual production capacity of 140,000 one-tonne pickup trucks and 100,000 passenger cars.
Of that amount, 120,000 vehicles — 70,000 pickup trucks and 50,000 passenger cars — are Mazda models. Ford recently moved its passenger-car production line to a wholly owned facility in Rayong. Its pickup truck line remains at AAT.
The SkyActiv engine plant, which began construction last November, is due to start up by the third quarter. It meets the requirements for phase two of the government's eco-car scheme.