Mazda Motor has partially resumed manufacturing operations at the Ujina No. 1 plant in Hiroshima for the first time since a fire at the plant on December 15 crippled its paint-coating facility.
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Kyodo News said the automaker restarted production of Demio (2) subcompact cars with an assembly line that survived the fire and a paint-coating facility at the adjacent Ujina No. 2 factory. Mazda reportedly said it aims to manufacture 4,000 Demio cars in January.
Kyodo said the company is planning to increase output at its two other domestic plants in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in a bid to make up for the adverse effects of the fire on car production but expects a production shortfall of 35,000 vehicles by the end of March.
Mazda President Hisakazu Imaki has said that the company will give achieving its production target priority over restoration work at the damaged plant, the report noted .
The company makes Demio cars at both the Ujina No. 1 and No. 2 plants and may use the paint-coating facility at the No. 2 factory for seven other models manufactured at the No. 1 plant, it told the news agency.
Mazda officials told Kyodo News it remains unclear when the No. 1 plant will be fully restored.
The fire broke out late at night Dec. 15 and gutted 9,200 square meters of the No. 1 plant’s 180,000 square meters of floor space, causing damage estimated at 2.7 billion yen. Painting robots, pipes and air-conditioning equipment were damaged in the fire, Kyodo News said.
