Mazda Motor said it would expand its range of locally produced vehicles in Thailand by 2020 once it frees up capacity at its AutoAlliance joint venture plant with Ford in Rayong province.
The automaker's general manager for the ASEAN region, Hiroshi Inoue, told reporters at this week's Tokyo Motor Show it would end production of the BT-50 pickup truck at AutoAlliance (Thailand) towards the end of the decade.
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The company decided not to renew its agreement with Ford to combine development and production of the next generation pickup truck.
Instead it has an agreement in place to source this model from Isuzu Motor, the second-largest pickup truck producer in Thailand after Toyota.
Mazda is one of the smallest global pickup truck brands with output estimated at around 36,000 units in Thailand last year.
The AutoAlliance (Thailand) joint venture plant has a production capacity of 275,000 vehicles per year and also produces Mazda's 2, 3 and CX3 as well as Ford models. Mazda also assembles the CX5 in Malaysia.
Local reports in Thailand suggest that Ford, which has a wholly owned plant – also in Rayong province – potentially with enough capacity to handle the next generation Ranger pickup, may sell its AutoAlliance stake to Mazda. The US automaker recently departed Indonesia and Japan.
Mazda may add a seven-seater MPV to its range because this is one of the most popular vehicle segments in the ASEAN region. Other possible models include hybrids developed with Toyota.
See also: ANALYSIS – Mazda vehicle architectures and future models
