Mazda to enter North American compact car market

Japanese automaker Mazda Motor is planning to enter the North American compact car market as early as 2007 to take advantage of growing demand there for fuel-efficient vehicles, a report said Monday.
Mazda president Hisakazu Imaki was quoted as saying by the Jiji Press news agency that compact cars are necessary in the long term because of rising gasoline prices.
Mazda already sells compact cars - those with small bodies and 1,000-1,500 cc engines - in Japan but has yet to break into the North American market.
The company could either build a new US plant or produce cars in a factory there run by its largest shareholder, Ford Motor, to avoid the effect of currency movements, Imaki was quoted as saying.
Annual US sales of Mazda compact cars were expected to reach some tens of thousands of vehicles, it said. A Mazda spokeswoman said no decision had been taken about a possible move into the North American compact car market but that the automaker "is in the process of choosing strategic cars for the new long-term management plan."