Mazda makes Thailand its hub for parts exports
Mazda has designated Thailand as its spare-parts distribution hub for Asean and global exports, and has officially opened a new parts distribution centre in Samut Prakan in order to improve the quality of its after-sales service.
Set up by Mazda Logistics & Yusen (Asia) – a joint venture between Mazda Sales Thailand and Yusen Logistics (Thailand) with registered capital of Bt40 million – the new facility stocks up to 53,000 Mazda parts worth more than Bt360 million.
Yusen is the largest logistics company in Japan.
Last year, Mazda’s Thai operations sold Bt1.7 billion-worth of spare parts for the domestic market and Bt800 million for export to more than 100 countries.
However, the export proportion of sales is bound to grow dramatically in the near future, as Mazda has just opened its Bt11-billion transmission plant in Chon Buri to produce 400,000 SKYACTIV gearboxes annually. Then, during the fourth quarter of this year, construction of its first engine plant in Thailand will be completed.
Mazda has yet to announce the production figures for the Bt3-billion engine plant, but similar numbers to the transmission facility are expected.
"In the past, Mazda’s parts management in this region was handled by our business partner, and we lagged behind our rivals," said Hidesuke Takesue, president of Mazda Sales Thailand.
"The new parts distribution centre will dramatically help us improve our parts management system, since we can fully control all of our operation on our own. Thailand and other Asean countries have high potential for economic growth, and this is the largest market for Mazda to grow our business," he said, adding that the new centre would help raise the level of customer satisfaction for the brand.
Exports of Mazda spare parts are now incorporated into its vehicle exports, resulting in lower operating costs, said the company chief.
"There is also more pricing competitiveness, because we have combined our spare-parts export business with our export operation from the AutoAlliance Thailand plant [in Rayong] to share costs," he added.
During the past 10 years, Mazda sold more than 320,000 vehicles in Thailand.
The new distribution centre has about 260 suppliers, with parts packaged for delivery to 125 Mazda service centres nationwide.