Mazda has today (16 May) announced the completion of its new vehicle assembly plant in Malaysia. According to a company press release, the new facility is located within the grounds of a plant owned by Inokom Corporation, its local vehicle production joint-venture partner, and is situated in Kulim in Kedah state. With the opening of the facility, the automaker has reported the beginning of mass assembly of its CX-5 sport utility vehicle (SUV) at the new plant.
Significance: Mazda announced its plans to build a new vehicle assembly facility involving an investment of MYR100 million (USD31 million) last year. According to IHS Automotive data, vehicles for the Malaysian market are supplied by Mazda's Ujina and Hofu plants in Japan and the Rayong II plant in Thailand. In 2011, Inokom began production of the Mazda3 car (also known as the Axela in global markets) at its Kulim plant in Malaysia and output of the model has so far been in the range of 750–2,600 units. Mazda will begin production of the Axela model at its new assembly plant, with vehicle kits currently sourced from its Rayong II plant in Thailand. Mazda will also begin mass production of its CX-5 SUV model at the new plant, with vehicle kits supplied by its Ujina plant in Japan. Production of this model is expected to be in the range of 4,500-8,000 units in the coming years. Although the new plant will mainly cater to demand in the local market, Mazda will also use the new plant to export these two models to neighbouring markets such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and in limited numbers to other smaller local markets. For 2014, total production at Mazda's new Kulim plant is expected to be around 9,366 units. Mazda's Malaysian sales are projected to total 8,574 units, down 6.8% year on year, mainly on the back of an expected fall of 34% in demand for the CX-5 model.
