Mazda wants to extend its range with a new small model, positioned under the current Mazda2. Dubbed to be called Mazda1, the future Volkswagen Up! Rival could see daylight at the end of this decade. Thought to be the subject of a feasibility study right now, the future Mazda1 awaits green light.
Yasuhiro Aoyama, Mazda’s general manager of global sales and marketing, stated: “We are always looking at whether we need to produce a sub-B model.”
Mazda is looking for a partner offering inexpensive labour or government incentives to reduce costs of the sub-B car. For this reason, Indonesia is a potential manufacturing source.
Even if there is not going to be a partner for the future Mazda1, the japanese manufacturer is optimisic. Aoyama said that Mazda has the design and engineering capabilities to go it alone if it decides to go ahead with a sub-B vehicle.
“Mazda has the resources to do a sub-B car. But there are many things that still need to be considered before that could happen”, he said.
Aoyama said Mazda’s European network must be more profitable before undertaking an all-new model line, because some areas are not yet sustainable and therefore could not afford the distribution and marketing costs.
22 Oct 2012
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