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Mazda's new Mexican plant capacity rises to 230,000

After the turmoil of last year, 2013 is getting off to a much better start for Mazda. The company has issued a release indicating that the forthcoming plant in Salamanca, Mexico has had its production capacity raised even though it isn't scheduled to go online until March 2014. The original plans called for a 140,000-unit capacity, 90,000 of that allotted for the Mazda2 and Mazda3, the remaining 50,000 for a small car Mazda would build for Toyota that would be based on the Mazda2. The new plans call for raising that by 90,000 units to a total of 230,000 units within two years, by the end of March 2016, and it looks like it will all go toward Mazda production to satisfy growing demand for Skyactiv vehciles. The Mexican plant's opening will be the return of Mazda manufacturing to North America, after Mazda6 production was moved back to Japan last year.
More good news for the company is that it projects 10 billion yen ($114 million) in net income for the financial year that will end in March. That would be a welcome turnaround from the 100-billion-yen loss in the previous financial year, part of a series of three annual losses in a four-year span.
You'll find the press release with the factory update below.

Mazda-Toyota partnership has us dreaming of a rotary hybrid

As you may have seen, Mazda and Toyota are going to be working a little more closely with each other. In their announcement, the two companies said they'd be building an American assembly plant together, and working on electric vehicle technology. But one of the companies' goals got our mental gears turning: It's listed as "Expand complementary products," and it's left very open-ended. The companies say they "will further explore the possibilities of other complementary products on a global level." These are in addition to Mazda providing the Mazda2 to Toyota as the Yaris iA, and Toyota providing Mazda a commercial van to sell in Japan. So what could these future complementary products be? We have a couple of ideas, one that's ludicrous but awesome (and, sadly, probably won't ever happen), and the other grounded in reality. Let's start with the fun one. What's the one thing Mazda fan has been wanting for years? A rotary sports car, of course! And while Mazda has repeatedly said that it has a small band of engineers plugging away at the spinning triangle problem, the odds of Mazda putting it into production have been slim. The inherent thirst of the rotary would make it tough to introduce when fuel economy regulations have been tightening. Plus, Mazda is a small company that needs to stretch every dollar, and having a one-off engine not based on anything else would be expensive. How could Mazda get around these obstacles? This is where the partnership with Toyota comes in, in our long-shot fantasy. Aside from having deep pockets, Toyota has a wealth of knowledge in the realm of hybrids. Thus, why not a rotary hybrid? Electrifying their oddball motor would fix two issues. One is obviously the fuel economy, since the gas engine wouldn't have to run all the time. The other is in providing torque. Rotaries infamously have little torque, especially down low, so adding an electric motor would allow this hypothetical rotary sports car to have a grunty low end, while still providing the Everest-high redline rotary fans like. The idea would be sweetened with the solid-state batteries that Toyota is developing, which could provide lots of electricity without weighing a ton. The rotary-electric mashup notion isn't totally alien to Mazda, either, since the company created an electric Mazda2 with a rotary engine for a range extender — albeit for different reasons. The company even filed a patent for the rotary range extender recently.

Refreshed 2017 Mazda 3 and 6 get G-Vectoring Control

Back in June, we told you about Mazda's G-Vectoring Control system, which is an additional layer of unobtrusive cornering assistance to help maintain traction at the limits of adhesion. It's subtle to the point of being hard for a human being to detect, even a Mazda engineer, as we found out driving a G-VC equipped Mazda 6 around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. We knew then that the G-VC system would make it to the 2017 Mazda 3 and 6, but now all the details of both mildly refreshed cars are available. Let's start with the Mazda 3, which has a few more changes than its larger stablemate. As is standard industry practice, a mild facelift includes available LED headlights and taillights, a new grille, and a monochrome rear bumper. Inside, the slightly recontoured steering wheel now has available heating and the manual handbrake has been replaced by an electronic one. Fans of handbrake turns will frown, but those handles take up an immense amount of room (relatively speaking) inside the center console. The redesigned center storage bin takes better advantage of that newly freed-up space. Lastly, Mazda claims the 3 is quieter thanks to improved insulation and weatherstripping. The Mazda 6 was just refreshed last year, so the list of changes is even shorter. The larger sedan benefits from similar sound-reducing tweaks as the 3, and the entry-level 6 with a manual transmission now comes with the Mazda Connect infotainment system, a real upgrade from the older non-touchscreen system. One thing that both share is an available full color head-up display, which replaces a functional but ancient-looking monochrome unit. If you've been in a Mazda currently on sale with this old-looking system, you'll really appreciate the way this new one looks. We can't wait to try it out. Both new Mazdas go on sale in September. Pricing isn't available at this time. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mazda3 Unveiling View 15 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Mazda6 Unveiling View 14 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Mazda3 View 36 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Mazda 6 View 33 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Mazda Hatchback Sedan mazda 3