Strong demand for its new-generation SKYACTIV models has prompted Mazda Motor Corporation to boost SKYACTIV engine production capacity at its Hiroshima plant by one-quarter. When completed by the end of 2014, the expansion from 800,000 units to one million annually will also make the facility more flexible.
As part of the move, Mazda will install a new and highly versatile engine machining line at the plant. In addition, an existing line used to assemble MZR engines will be overhauled to also enable the production of SKYACTIV engines. Mazda offers a line-up of four-cylinder SKYACTIV-G petrol engines and SKYACTIV-D clean diesels.
Expanding production is a key part of Mazda’s goal to increase global sales by 2016 to 1.7 million vehicles, some 80 per cent of which are expected to feature SKYACTIV technology. Beyond Hiroshima, SKYACTIV engines are currently manufactured at Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co. in China, where production began in June 2013. They will also be produced in Mexico at Mazda Motor Manufacturing de Mexico S.A. de C.V. starting in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2014.
