Mazda Production Reaches Highest Level in 15 years

HIROSHIMA March 31, 2008; Japan Today reported that Mazda Motor Corp said Monday that domestic production in Japan during fiscal year 2007 has exceeded one million units. This marks Mazda’s highest domestic production volume in 15 years since 1992.

Masaharu Yamaki, senior managing executive officer in charge of production and business logistics, said, “Producing over one million vehicles in Japan during the first year of our new mid-term plan, the Mazda Advancement Plan, is extremely significant. This achievement shows we are on track to reach the targets set out in the plan. We will strive to maintain this momentum and drive Mazda’s growth forward.”

The Mazda Advancement Plan (MAP) includes business targets to be achieved in fiscal year 2010, namely: 1.6 million global retail sales, an operating profit over 200 billion yen, a return on sales (ROS) ratio of 6% percent, and a stable payout of dividends. In order to achieve these targets, Mazda said it will leverage its annual straight time production capacity in Japan, which is currently 996,000 units per year.