The Toyota site in Valenciennes “will start production of a car for Mazda at the beginning of December,” says one within the northern plant. It will be the new Mazda 2, very closely derived from the 2019 Toyota Yaris IV. The Mazda 2 will only be available as a hybrid and is expected to launch next February-March. It will replace the current Mazda 2, dating from 2014, which was itself a product developed and manufactured by the Hiroshima brand in Japan. This third vehicle should represent “less than 10% of the total production of the plant” in Valenciennes. That is to say a hundred copies per day, 22 to 25,000 per year. The northern site is currently running at 1,100 units per day, of which 40% are Yaris and 60% Yaris Cross SUV derivatives. Jim Crosbie, director of the North production center, announced this future production for Mazda, during a visit by specialist journalists last July.
Inter-Japanese agreements
This third vehicle is explained by the inter-Japanese cooperation agreements. Toyota has in fact held 5% of its compatriot since 2017. However, Mazda, which sold 1.24 million vehicles worldwide last year, lacks small low-emission models for Europe. This sleight of hand will allow him to lower the average level of his
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emissions and not to pay a fine in Brussels. Mazda is also one of the only Japanese manufacturers – along with Isuzu and Mitsubishi – not to have a production plant on the Old Continent. The practice of exchanging models between manufacturers is also frequent in Japan. Toyota, which has also owned 5% of its other compatriot Suzuki since August 2019, already supplies this specialist in small vehicles with the compact Corolla hybrids produced in Great Britain.
Through these agreements, Toyota discreetly locks the Japanese auto industry. The Toyota City giant thus announced last March a new alliance with Isuzu, a specialist in small and medium-sized trucks as well as pick-ups. Toyota has usually acquired a small stake, 4.6%, in Isuzu. Toyota also owns 20% of Subaru, which specializes in four-wheel drive vehicles. And this, at the end of several successive capital increases, the last of which was in September 2019.
Record production in 2022?
The contribution of a Mazda is in any case good news for Valenciennes, which only manufactured… Toyota. The site, which has just celebrated its twentieth anniversary, intends to beat its production record from 2022 with its three vehicles. Unless the persistent shortage of components disrupts the objectives. But Toyota is doing much better than the European competition. The northern plant thus had to shut down its lines for only two days in November due to a lack of electronic components. Alerted at the beginnings of the semiconductor crisis, the group reacted very early on by partially leaving the classic just-in-time production model, of which it is however the inventor. He immediately stored more critical components. Another serious advantage: most of its suppliers, including in semiconductors, are… Japanese companies. In addition, the world’s leading automaker is known for its very good long-term relationships with suppliers, which makes it a priority in deliveries.
Even if Toyota does not manage to break its previous record, production at Valenciennes is expected to be much higher this year and again in 2022 compared to the 188.140 Yaris of 2019, when the plant had to stop its lines for more than a month because of of the pandemic. The previous record for Valenciennes dated back to 2007 with 262,000 units. The city car Yaris was, despite everything, the most produced car in France last year, ahead of the Peugeot 3008. The Valencian site should employ 5,000 people at the end of this year, against 4,750 at the end of 2019.
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