Mazda will build Mexican factory as it abandons Michigan

USA Today - Only days after announcing it will pull out of the Michigan auto plant it shares with Ford, Mazda is set to announce tomorrow that it is going to build a new factory in Mexico, Reuters says based on an unnamed source.

In a story datelined from Tokyo, Reuters says the new Mazda plant will be built in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. General Motors has a big pickup plant there as well, in the town of Silao.

In the past, all of Mazda's overseas plants -- the U.S., China and Thailand -- have been joint ventures with Ford. But Mazda just announced that it will stop making its Mazda6 midsize sedan in Flat Rock, Mich., the AutoAlliance International plant where Ford manufactures the Mustang. Building a plant in Mexico would allow Mazda to operate at a fraction of the labor rates it pays its United Auto Workers members in Flat Rock.

Construction of the new plant in Mexico would start as soon as this fall, and vehicles would roll off the new line in 2013. No word on what products the plant would make or whether they would be brought into the U.S. Note we don't say "imported" since Mexico is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.