May 17, 2005
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese automaker Mazda said Tuesday it was setting up a new unit for Southeast Asia based in Bangkok to push forward strong growth in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc.
Mazda Motor said its sales in the region jumped 25 percent to 24,000 vehicles in 2004. It said its long-term goal was to expand market share in ASEAN from the current 1.3 percent to 5.0 percent.
"We see great growth opportunity for Mazda in ASEAN," Mazda's executive officer in charge of overseas sales, Malcolm Gough, said in a statement.
The statement said that ASEAN, home to some 500 million people, currently bought about 1.7 million vehicles annually year but that the sales were expected to double in the next 10 years.
Mazda, which is one-third owned by US automaker Ford, said it was setting up Mazda ASEAN Ltd. in Bangkok to expand local sales networks and develop products for the Southeast Asian market.
It appointed as the unit's managing director Will Angrove, an Australian who previously headed PT Ford Motor Indonesia.
Mazda is Japan's fifth-ranked automaker. The largest, Toyota, has also eyed growth in Southeast Asia, announcing last month that it will invest more than 500 million dollars to boost production in Thailand and Indonesia.