Fresh off the unveiling of the locally made Mazda CX-5, Mazda announced that they are continuing to strengthen their production system here in Malaysia through their production company, Mazda Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Mazda Malaysia held a ceremony to mark the occasion and local business partners took part in it.
Before starting production of the CX-5, Mazda Malaysia invested about RM86 million to build an exclusive paint shop for Mazda’s designer body colours and to automate part of the body-welding process. These measures align new technologies at the plant with those at Ujina and Hofu, Mazda’s “parent factories” in western Japan, and will further enhance production quality.
Until now, the CX-5 made in Malaysia has been sold in Malaysia and Thailand. Moving forward, the company plans to ship the model to the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar as well.
“We see Malaysia as an important production base in the ASEAN region and, with the aim of establishing a sturdy production system, we’ve worked closely with our business partners to develop manufacturing of Mazda cars here,” said Masatoshi Maruyama, Mazda’s Managing Executive Officer in charge of Global Production and Business Logistics.
“In addition to enabling the production of cars in Soul Red Crystal and Machine Gray, colours that represent the Mazda brand, these new measures strengthen a consistent production framework based on Mazda’s manufacturing concepts and technologies. We will continue efforts to raise quality levels even higher, and I’m confident that cars manufactured here will satisfy customers in every market.”
Hiroshi Inoue, Mazda’s Managing Executive Officer in charge of ASEAN business, said, “Customers in ASEAN markets are constantly raising the bar for Mazda’s products, technologies and quality standards. We see it as our mission to offer value that exceeds their expectations. And the Malaysia-made all-new CX-5, which is imbued with Mazda’s passion for car-making, is just the model to do that. Moving forward, we will continue working closely with our business partners to contribute to the development of the automotive industry in Malaysia, and aim to enrich people’s lives with cars that provide driving pleasure.”
| Location: | Within the grounds of Inokom Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (Kulim, Kedah), a local automobile manufacturing company producing vehicles for Mazda Malaysia on consignment. |
| Operations began: | August 29, 2017 |
| Colors: | Soul Red Crystal, Machine Gray and Snow Flake White Pearl Mica |
| Jan 2011: | Started local assembly of the Mazda3 (called Axela in Japan) |
| Sep 2012: | Established Mazda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., a sales and production company |
| Mar 2013: | Started local assembly of the CX-5; began operations at a vehicle body shop exclusively for Mazda vehicles |
| Sep 2013: | Began exporting the Malaysia-made CX-5 to Thailand |
| May 2014: | Started operations at a vehicle assembly plant exclusively for Mazda vehicles |
| Aug 2017: | Started local assembly of the all-new CX-5, began operations at a paint shop exclusively for designer colors for Mazda vehicles |
