Mazda seeks balance between two ventures in China

Japan-headquartered automaker Mazda Motor Corp. has recently made breakthroughs in the product issue concerning its two joint venture in China, Chang'an Ford Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. and FAW Mazda Motor Sales Co., Ltd.
 
Among the new models that the automaker displayed at the international auto show in Guangzhou last month, the CX-7 is sold in the sales network of FAW Mazda, and the new generation two-compartment Mazda3 is available at stores under the wing of Chang'an Ford Mazda.

Previously, imported two-compartment Mazda3 cars had been marketed via the sales network of FAW Mazda, the once only agent of imported Mazda models in China for Mazda China.

However, since the new Mazda3 hit the Japanese market, the supply of imported Mazda3 cars had been not sufficient in China. A FAW Mazda dealer confirmed it was informed that the imported Mazda3 cars would be shifted onto the sales network of Chang'an Ford Mazda from December 1.

As a result, Chang'an Ford Mazda is entitled to sell imported Mazda models as an agent. According to Chinese auto brand regulations, however, there can be only one general agent for imported vehicles.

Mazda has applied to Chinese regulators, intending to get another imported vehicle license for Chang'an Ford Mazda. Watchers said that Mazda seemed confident of gaining the license.

In the first ten months of 2009, Mazda China sold 137,000 vehicles in China, surging 31 percent from a year earlier. In October alone, its sales volume aggregately hit 14,498, hiking 32 percent year on year.

The Mazda China President Noriaki Yamada predicted that the full-year figure would outnumber 170,000 with a soar of 33 percent year on year. As for the next year, Mazda foresaw a growth of 10 to 15 percent in the Chinese automaker. The president, bullish on both the Chinese auto market and the Mazda operations in China, stressed that the growth of Mazda China would definitely be faster.

In addition, FAW Mazda was formed jointly by Mazda, China FAW Group Corp. and its listed arm FAW Car Co., Ltd. Chang'an Ford Mazda is owned jointly by Mazda, China's Chang'an Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd., and US Ford Motor Co.

In September 2009, Chang'an Ford Mazda raised the curtain on construction of its third plant in Chongqing, southwest China, with a total investment of CNY 3.34 billion, told some reports. The plant is preliminarily designed to turn out 150,000 Ford-branded passenger cars a year.