Mazda Motor Corporation’s 50 million-unit production milestone was achieved in May 2018 – 86 years and seven months after the company’s Hiroshima factory produced its first three-wheeled truck in October 1931.
Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that cumulative production in Japan reached 50 million units on May 15, 2018. The company held a commemorative ceremony at its Hofu Plant in Yamaguchi prefecture. Representative Director, President and CEO Masamichi Kogai, along with executive officers and union representatives, were in attendance. 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 making cars 86 years ago, and now we’ve reached 50 million units of production in Japan. Even making one million cars a year, it would take 50 years to reach this milestone, showing just how long Mazda’s history is,” said Kogai at the ceremony.
“Moving forward, Mazda will continue to build a strong brand through a variety of initiatives. Our plants in Hofu and Hiroshima will continue to evolve and act as parent factories, rapidly deploying their technologies and skills to our overseas plants. I’d like us all to work together to ensure these plants continue to embody the kind of technical prowess that does justice to Japan’s proud history of Monotsukuri.”
Mazda began its journey as an automaker in 1931, when it started producing three-wheeled 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 factories 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 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, with the production techniques and technologies established in Japan then rolled out to overseas facilities.
