Mazda to expand Chinese operations

Mazda Motor Corp plans to expand its Chinese operations by setting up a sales holding firm with China's First Automotive Works (FAW) and a production firm with Ford Motor Co, a Japanese newspaper said on Saturday.
The Japanese automaker is projecting the production and sale of 200,000 vehicles in China by 2007, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said.
Mazda currently outsources production to local partner FAW Car Co, a unit of FAW, which is China's largest auto maker.
The Japanese automaker plans to establish the holding company with China's FAW Group Corp that will oversee sales of three models of passenger vehicles made by FAW Group subsidiaries FAW Car Co and FAW Hainan Motor Co Ltd, as well as Mazda cars that will be made locally, Nihon Keizai said.
Mazda and its top shareholder Ford will begin joint production of vehicles by 2007, the newspaper said.
A production plant with an annual output capacity of 200,000 units will be built near Shanghai at a cost of around 50 billion yen ($467.6 million), Nihon Keizai said.