Mazda Celebrates Producing 50 Million Vehicles In Japan

Mazda Motor Corporation just announced that its cumulative production in Japan has reached 50 million units earlier this month.

The 50 million-unit milestone was achieved 86 years and seven months after Mazda produced its first three-wheeled truck in October 1931.

“Mazda began making cars 86 years ago, and now we’ve reached 50 million units of production in Japan. Even making 1 million cars a year, it would take 50 years to reach this milestone, showing just how long Mazda’s history is,” said Mazda Motor Corporation's President Masamichi Kogai. 

Mazda began its journey as an automaker in 1931, when it started producing three-wheeled trucks in Hiroshima. In 1960 it commenced production of the R360 Coupe micro-mini, marking a bold entry into the passenger car market.

Domestic production duties on the other hand, have been shared between the Hofu and Hiroshima Plants since 1982.

In 2016 and 2017, the company took steps to increase its production flexibility for crossover models and create a framework capable of responding quickly to changes in demand.

Mazda said that it aims to sell 1,660,000 cars this fiscal year, the final year of its Structural Reform Stage 2 medium-term business plan, and plans to establish a global production framework capable of manufacturing two million units annually by fiscal year ending March 2024.

Mass-production of vehicles featuring next-generation technologies and design is slated to start in 2019, and the company will continue expanding its production framework in an effort to get cars to customers as quickly as possible.