2011 Mazda 3 S Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Mazda de Mexico celebrates 100,000th car built

Automakers and their factories celebrate production milestones all the time. Some are interesting enough to report on and some aren't, but what makes this one stand out is that the plant opened less than a year ago. Just 11 months since production began, Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operation has put together its 100,000th vehicle – in this case a Mazda2 hatchback headed for Europe. MMVO is one of three plants assembling the company's smallest model, also known as the Demio in Japan, where it is also produced, with additional assembly taking place in Thailand under a joint venture with Ford. The Mexican location also handles assembly of the Mazda3 for the Americas and for Europe. Mazda has announced that it is expanding production at MMVO by 150 percent of this year's capacity to 250,000 units per year by March 2016 as it takes on contract manufacturing for Toyota as well.

2014 Mazda6: July/August 2013

Our newest long-termer - the Soul Red 2014 Mazda6 seen here - arrived in my driveway at the end of June. Without hesitation, I immediately put it to work as a daily driver, carpool bus and family vacation sled, and it accomplished all of those tasks with aplomb. Now, more than 4,000 miles down the road, I am left convinced that Mazda's latest midsize sedan is one of the best in its segment.
During the past 60 days, I have subjected the Mazda6 to scorching travel across Southwestern deserts, wheezing climbs over 8,000-foot-high Sierra Nevada mountain passes and basking in the cool ocean breezes of Malibu. It traveled with four passengers and a full load of luggage from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, and it braved the bumper-to-bumper freeway congestion on a weekday trip down to San Diego. It accomplished everything that was asked of while hardly skipping a beat - it has only required a regular sip of unleaded fuel to keep it moving forward.

Honda sees sales up but profit sliding 16 percent in 2017-18

TOKYO - Honda forecasts a 16 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker sees higher auto sales being offset by a stronger yen and research-and-development costs. Japan's No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the current FY2018, down from 840.7 billion yen posted in the fiscal year just ended, and lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen from 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It sees a 14 percent slide in net profit to 530.0 billion yen this year, down from 616.5. Honda's projections are based on a forecast that the yen will average 105 yen to the U.S. dollar through next March, stronger than the 108 yen rate in the year just ended.BUT CAR SALES ARE UP At the same time, there's good news as Honda expects its global vehicle sales to edge up 1 percent to 5.08 million this year, bolstered by growth in Asian sales to 2.06 million units, beating out North America to become Honda's top market as more Chinese drivers flock to its cars. The company expects to sell 1.92 million vehicles in North America, 2.5 percent less than the year just ended as it struggles to sell sedans including the Accord, which have fallen out of fashion in the past few years. Honda has been ramping up production of SUVs to keep up with strong demand for larger models in the United States, although overall vehicle sales show signs of slowing following a boom cycle after the global financial crisis. Mazda is taking a similar strategy, announcing on Friday it would expand production of SUV crossover models at home, while equipping overseas plants to enable more flexible production of models according to market needs. Japan's No. 5 automaker forecast a 19 percent jump in operating profit for the current financial year as it expects higher sales volumes, particularly in North America, to help it recover from last year's profit slump.A CONSERVATIVE OUTLOOK Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi acknowledged that Honda's expected currency hit of 95 billion yen was based on a "conservative" yen forecast, adding that growing costs to create next-generation cars would also impact earnings. "Our costs are rising to develop new technologies which will be needed in the future, like automated driving functions and electric cars," he told reporters at a results briefing.