Photo: Mazda
A new Japanese joint venture was established last week on U.S. soil, as the world’s leading automaker, Toyota, announced a new collaborative production effort together with Mazda.
As per the agreement between the two, a new manufacturing plant will be established in Huntsville, Alabama. Called Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTMUS), the facility will begin operation in 2021 and will have a production capacity of 300,000 units a year.
In the beginning, the output would be evenly split between the two carmakers, each planning to produce one model from their lineup: Mazda will assemble a new crossover model that will be introduced on the North American market, while Toyota will roll off assembly lines the new Corolla.
There are no details available on what crossover Mazda will bring to the United States in the first years of the new decade.
When the $1.6 billion investment from the two automakers is ready, the facility will employ 4,000 people. For Toyota, MTMUS would be the eleventh manufacturing facility in the U.S.
As for Mazda, it has been present on the local market for 50 years, but it currently has no production facility in the U.S. The Flat Rock assembly plant which it owned was sold to Ford in 2012, leaving the Japanese with production hubs in Mexico for the North American continent.
By comparison, on the same continent Toyota currently has a total of 14 manufacturing facilities, producing a total of 36 million cars in the 60 years it has been active there.
“We hope to make MTMUS a plant that will hold a special place in the heart of the local community for many, many years,” said Mazda’s CEO Masashi Aihara, who will also lead the new facility.
“We hope that cars made at the new plant will enrich the lives of their owners and become much more than just a means of transportation.”
In the beginning, the output would be evenly split between the two carmakers, each planning to produce one model from their lineup: Mazda will assemble a new crossover model that will be introduced on the North American market, while Toyota will roll off assembly lines the new Corolla.
There are no details available on what crossover Mazda will bring to the United States in the first years of the new decade.
When the $1.6 billion investment from the two automakers is ready, the facility will employ 4,000 people. For Toyota, MTMUS would be the eleventh manufacturing facility in the U.S.
As for Mazda, it has been present on the local market for 50 years, but it currently has no production facility in the U.S. The Flat Rock assembly plant which it owned was sold to Ford in 2012, leaving the Japanese with production hubs in Mexico for the North American continent.
By comparison, on the same continent Toyota currently has a total of 14 manufacturing facilities, producing a total of 36 million cars in the 60 years it has been active there.
“We hope to make MTMUS a plant that will hold a special place in the heart of the local community for many, many years,” said Mazda’s CEO Masashi Aihara, who will also lead the new facility.
“We hope that cars made at the new plant will enrich the lives of their owners and become much more than just a means of transportation.”
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