In response to strong sales of its new SKYACTIV vehicle lineup, Mazda announced on Tuesday that it will increase annual production of its fuel-efficient SKYACTIVE gasoline and diesel engines at its Hiroshima Plant in Japan by 25 percent, from 800,000 units today, to one million units by the end of 2014.
To achieve the increase in production, Mazda said it will install a “highly versatile new engine machining line” in the existing Hiroshima plant, while also revamping an assembly line that up until now, has been used solely to produce inline four-cylinder engines (MZR1.8L-2.5L), to allow mixed production with SKYACTIV engines.
“SKYACTIV technology has gained an excellent reputation since the first SKYACTIV-G engine was loaded into a Mazda Demio for the Japanese market back in June 2011,” said Mazda’s Managing Executive Officer Kiyotaka Shobuda. “Sales of SKYACTIV vehicles are increasing in markets around the globe and the decision to increase production capacity was made to further strengthen our supply system.”
The Japanese carmaker said the move is in line with the brand’s aim to boost global vehicle sales to 1.7 million units by the first quarter in 2016. Aside from Japan, Mazda also manufacturers its SKYACTIV engines at the Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd., where production began in June of 2013, with a new plant in Mexico to begin building the powerplants in March 2014.
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