Toyota, Mazda team up once again for $1.6-B manufacturing plant

Mazda and Toyota, two huge Japanese names in the automotive industry, are tying up for a $1.6-billion joint-venture company. The collaboration will bear fruit to a manufacturing plant that can produce 150,000 units of the Toyota Corolla and another 150,000 units for an unconfirmed Mazda crossover.

This is not the first time the companies sought the help of one another. In 2016, both brands announced a collaboration that taps electric car development. For the same reason, this was followed by a trio partnership with Denso. The partnership opened Toyota’s New Global Architecture platform to the two other companies.

The new joint-venture will be called Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (MTMUS). It will be located in Huntsville, Alabama, and operation will begin in 2021. The multi-billion-dollar project that is foreseen to generate 4,000 jobs is equally funded by both companies.

"By combining the best of our technologies and corporate cultures, Mazda and Toyota will not only produce high-quality cars but also create a plant where employees will be proud to work at, and contribute to the further development of the local economy and the automotive industry. We hope that cars made at the new plant will enrich the lives of their owners and become much more than just a means of transportation."

Masashi Aihara
Mazda Executive Officer, MTMUS president

The new MTMUS plant is the 11th Toyota manufacturing facility in the US. Construction will begin in 2019, in cooperation with the state of Alabama.

Although there were no other confirmations aside from manufacturing existing models, it is still quite intriguing to think whether there's a possibility to cover performance-based projects. Subaru and Toyota did it with the BRZ and 86, so it would be nice to see a Mazda-Toyota performance car, even just for once.