Mazda Japan builds landmark 50 millionth vehicle

Mazda has announced that cumulative production in Japan reached 50 million units on May 15. The company held a commemorative ceremony at its Hofu Plant in Yamaguchi prefecture. The 50 million-unit milestone was achieved 86 years and seven months after Mazda produced its first three-wheeled truck in October 1931. Mazda began its journey as an automaker in 1931, when it started producing threewheeled trucks in Hiroshima. In 1960 it commenced production of the R360 Coupe micro-mini, marking a bold entry into the passenger car market. Vehicle manufacture started at Hofu Plant in Yamaguchi in 1982, and domestic production duties have since been shared between the Hofu and Hiroshima Plants. The production techniques and flexible production systems developed at these plants have helped Mazda to grow its business. Mixed production lines capable of producing different models on a single line enable manufacture of multiple models at low volumes, a breakthrough in the traditional tradeoff between product variety and competitiveness and volume efficiency. In 2016 and 2017, the company took steps to increase its production flexibility for crossover models and create a framework capable of responding quickly to changes in demand. The domestic plants take the lead with Mazda’s global car making; production techniques and technologies established in Japan are then rolled out to overseas facilities. Mazda aims to sell 1,660,000 cars this fiscal year, the final year of its Structural Reform Stage 2 medium-term business plan, and plans to establish a global production framework capable of manufacturing two million units annually by fiscal year ending March 2024.