On August 13, local time, Mazda and Toyota Motor announced that they would invest an additional US $830 million in Mazda Toyota manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc., a joint venture of both sides in the United States, with a total investment of $2.3 billion.
The new investment is mainly to apply advanced technology to the production line of the factory to improve the automobile manufacturing process. In addition, the fund will also be used to strengthen the training of employees.
In 2018, Mazda and Toyota announced plans to build their joint venture factory in Huntsville, Alabama, with a total investment of about $1.6 billion. The plant is scheduled to start production in 2021.
Mazda and Toyota will receive additional tax breaks of $97 million for new investment, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. Previously, Alabama State and local governments have provided more than $700 million in tax incentives.
In early 2019, the construction of Alabama plant will begin. Up to now, the completion degree of roof, wall panel, floor, piping system, fire protection system and electrical engineering has reached 75% ~ 100%, and the construction work is still in progress. However, novel coronavirus pneumonia affects the construction cost of TOYOTA and Mazda by 50%.
The two Japanese automakers expect the new plant to produce up to 150000 Mazda crossover cars and 150000 Toyota SUVs a year when it goes into operation next year.
The new plant plans to provide more than 4000 new jobs. Currently, the Alabama plant has employed about 600 production workers and plans to resume applications for production jobs later in 2020.
North America is the main market for Toyota and Mazda. In fiscal year 2020 (by the end of March 2020), Toyota sold 2.713 million vehicles in the North American market, accounting for 30% of the total sales; Mazda sold 397000 vehicles locally, accounting for 28% of the total sales.