http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...510673436.html

The effect of the US dollar on all world currencies is hurting all domestic Auto manufacturers who export, particularly Japan and Australia.

Great if you want to import into Japan,OZ, etc..

A 30% increase is VERY significant for Mazda, this will not help local parts makers/suppliers in Hiroshima and regions.

Yes, Mazda have been buying parts form other countries for years, US, Australia, Spain, India, China even....a 30% increase you are talking almost half of the actual car being made elsewhere, putting Japanese labor final assembly aside.

I wonder how long the Japanese Government will allow this...it will only contribute to their long term unemployed.

It is about time the Japanese did some FREE trading arrangements, it might actually help them.

 

super-yen is a real threat for Mazda...big problems....

i'm expecting an increase of price of SKYACTIV car...

 

Im not trying to get into politics topic but this has a lot to do with the way we print our greenbacks ....... err I was trying to say quantitative easing. sounds wonderful right ?

Japan did the same thing, not as nuts as us because we're pretty much "unlimited" when it comes to printing money.

you give us your goods, we give you a piece of paper + our "promise" that we will pay you back someday. ahh, wonderful.

Its just funny that Bernanke saying he is "worried" about money bubble ? no **** but oh yea let me guess who created the bubble ... ?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/18/news...capital_flows/

now he is acting like all innocent and he is STILL trying to blame other people. how great our country has become. jesus.

 

bad news for the guys in Flat Rock......

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...110219852/1329

Mazda may exit from U.S. factory operated with Ford
February 18, 2011 - 10:23 am ET

TOKYO (Bloomberg) -- Mazda Motor Corp. may pull out from a U.S. factory it operates jointly with longtime partner Ford Motor Co. after production turned unprofitable, Chief Financial Officer Kiyoshi Ozaki said.

Japan's second-largest car exporter will announce plans for the Flat Rock, Mich., factory by the middle of this year, Ozaki told reporters in Tokyo today. The company may also consider overhauling the plant or change the models built there, he said without elaboration.

The plant currently assembles the Ford Mustang and Mazda6 sedan on one production shift.

The plant needs to run at 70 percent of its full 240,000-unit capacity to make a profit, Ozaki said. Mazda aims to introduce a more fuel-efficient engine to spur demand and increase domestic production to improve economies of scale after slipping into a third-quarter loss.

The company's U.S. sales fell 9 percent in January, as increased incentives on Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla compact, and demand for Hyundai Motor Co.'s Elantra sapped demand for the Mazda3, Ozaki said. The automaker will need to adjust U.S. inventory by 5,000 units through the end of March, he said.

Mazda aims to increase domestic production 33 percent to 1.1 million units in the year ending in March 2016, compared with 827,910 units last fiscal year. The ratio of exports will also increase as demand for cars in Japan declines, he said.

The Michigan plant produced about 45,000 Mazda6 units and 77,586 Mustang models last year, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Ford's Stake

Ford reduced its stake in Mazda to 3.5 percent from 11 percent last year, scaling back an alliance of than 30 years. The automaker first formed an automatic-transmission joint venture with Mazda in 1969 and acquired a 25 percent stake in the Japanese automaker in 1979.

The U.S. automaker took effective control of the Japanese company in 1996 by raising its stake to 33.4 percent. It reduced the stake to 13 percent in Nov. 2008, and a share issue by Mazda in 2009 further shrank the holding to 11 percent.

Mazda plans to introduce its new "Skyactiv" powertrain system across almost all models by 2015, starting with the domestic, U.S. and Australian markets this year. Earlier this month, the automaker reported a third-quarter loss, citing the strength of the Japanese currency which reached a 15-year high in November.

The new Demio compact, the first model to use the system, will go on sale in Japan in the first half of 2011 and runs 30 kilometers per liter of gasoline under the Japanese testing system, Mazda said in October. The new car's fuel-economy rating is the same as the hybrid version of Honda Motor Co.'s Fit and better than the current Demio's 23 kilometers per liter.

Yen's impact

With exports making up 80 percent of its Japanese output in 2010, Mazda is more vulnerable to the yen's impact than its domestic rivals. The strong yen against the dollar cut nine- month operating profit by 13.6 billion yen ($163 million), the company said this month.

Mazda posted a net loss of 2.7 billion yen for the three months ended Dec. 31. The company will still meet its full-year profit forecast of 6 billion yen as sales in Japan recover, Ozaki said.

While the strong yen erodes profitability of exports, Mazda needs to increase domestic output to boost economies of scale, the company has said. It aims to increase domestic production 33 percent to 1.1 million units in the year ending in March 2016, compared with 827,910 units last fiscal year, Ozaki said.

The automaker is also studying whether to begin production in Mexico, adding to a facility in Colombia that has a limited supplier base, he said.

 

Mazda depends too "heavily" on overseas market especially US. so all these stuff are "expected."

SkyActiv Engines gotta come ASAP or its gonna be over for Mazda.

 

well there's your answer about the next gen 6 Ash...

 

Imported 6 for US?don't seem a good move IMHO.

build 2 different models in USA, instead...

 

I trust Japanese import more than a plant build/share with a Ford/Rustang.

This is also one of the reason I got my Mazda3 Hatch instead of the 6 even tho they cost almost the same Build in Japan y0 !

so happy

 

Man, you are SO right..

It is the Paying back of money that the US owes that ******* worries me and should ALL US citizens, what is going to happen then China says one day, hey we want all the money that you owe us???..and other countries...like some are in so much Debt they have borrowings/debt that is over 100% of their GDP for god sakes...they are so far up China's *** that they will NEVER be out of debt, try Ireland, Greece, Spain (EU).

It is ******* scary....the Binge of CREDIT for everything is now reaping what has been sown over the past 40 years...who needs World Wars..

I am amazed how some "economists" in the US thinks their/your economy will "bounce back" or is bouncing back...IMO this stuff takes Years, almost a decade.

How can YOU bounce back or recover when you OWE so much money??

Yeah, keep printing the money and your dollar will sink even lower, all importers are pulling their hair out in the US as it is....so th people /consumer WILL pay more for Everything.

And these guys get paid Millions to **** everything up and let the little people get more and more Credit, Credit Cards, Loans....Utter MADNESS!!

 

Yep, I thought it would happen....

1. The Ford relationship is FINISHED...whatever you think it is over...I would not be at all surprised if Ford sells off it remaining 3%..
2. The Cost for Mazda to ship SKY Engines/Transmissions (plus other parts) to USA to install in a New MZ6 made at Flat Rock is WAY TOO MUCH, particularly now.
3. They need their HOFU/Ujina plants, all Japanese Plants at Max Capacity.
4. Mazda's in USA will rise in price substantially, try at least 20-30%.
5. Many dealers may close

Sales initially will slow, while America gets over the shock, not only Mazda cars but almost everything you buy...all imports.

I would not necessarily blame your current administration, this has been happening over many years.

This is one massive headache for Mazda.

 

Another reason why a new RE may be delayed for a while.

 

Wow, this is a CLASSIC...Ben B...

Quote:

He added that nations with large trade gaps must increase national savings by cutting large budget deficits

So when has the US ever had a Budget Surplus???, typical, telling every other Nation what they must do, but don't look in your own back yard...UNBELIEVABLE..

 

maybe not 20% only the 6 will increase price double digit (Cx-7 &9 are Jap made NOW).

they need to move the 6 upmarket in terms of quality, luxury and tech.....

here in EU same thing but less pressure here

 

actually i wonder if Matt is correct? could they build the US AND world 6 at Flatrock ? Taking advantage of the low dollar to get a little more margin out of the world 6 in Europe and Japan? sounds like too much in setup costs to me. would probably take too long as well.

 

It probably dates back to the 1960's, before the Vietnam War. The military spending and social reforms of the time plus the reluctance to increase government income to make up for it gave rise to the situation that the US is in today. (history, not politics)

 

Bernacke has actually been talking more about cutting the deficit here more aggressively. Im not what you'd call a supporter of his but he has been making more noise recently about our own.

From the time Washington became president until 2008 the US had borrowed 10 trillion dollars. In the last 2 years we have borrowed 5 trillion more

US Federal Budget Deficit as a percentage of GDP 200-2010

 

i don't know about the quality of products (i've read in some forum that quality of US M6 is lower than mazdaspeed6, the only one who comes from Japan in US)

but in terms of money is not a wrong option

 

when did we have a budget surplus? From about '97 to middle or so of 2001

 

What will happen, and it already is, is that the USA dollar will be devalued. (Anyone still remember when *Germany* made the cheapest cars??). What has been delaying this is the entirely artificial practices of (communist) China. A single $4000/month USA programmer cannot compete against 10 $400/month Chinese programmer. The more debt bought up by China however, the more reluctant they are to allow devaluation because it means a loss for them on that massive amount of US paper. This waffling means the pressure of the imbalance will build up to the point when it finally releases, it will be very very messy.

The last milemarker will be when no one will finance USA debt held in USA dollars. The financial future of a nation is held elsewhere when they can no longer finance their affairs *in their own currency*.

 

The trade deficit is a much bigger problem that the federal budget deficit. And, a big part of that problem is that China and other foreign investors keep lending us our own dollars. We can't pay them back with goods because china and others artifically deflate their own currency. So, we pay them back with increasingly worthless dollars. Ultimately, the value of the USD vs the Yuan will go down (a lot)-- and then maybe we can stop printing money. In the meantime, anyone holding on to cash is a fool, and yes, Japanese cars are going to cost more.

Borrowing from China is dumb, but it is even dumber for them to lend it to us. Hopefully, they'll figure that out real soon. They should spend it while it is still worth something - they are in fact buying more food, which makes food cost more, which makes food a more valuable export. In the end everything, except maybe real estate, will cost more. That's OK; Americans can produce more and consume less - easily.

 

Boy there are some Classic ones here by Doug Dickson CEO Mazda Australia, another dumb *** CEO (Mazda Japan Yes man) who will say anything to suit the situation.

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/new...&emlist=Member

"Price is determined according to equipment offered, not necessarily production costs," he says. "Every manufacturer tries to decrease production costs. But we're going out on our own with Skyactiv and don't have Ford to share the costs of production."

WHAT BS, Production Costs do not determine Car Price??...what an idiot!

I guess that is why we in Australia pay more than Double the Price for your cars.

Gee, I get tired of the **** that comes out of these guys mouth.

 

Agree, however, Trade Deficits are primarily not controlled by Governments, unless Governments are buying in and spending to stimulate economies.

Trade deficits should be directed to Company investments (Plant and Equipment), Consumer Purchases (the citizens) like (made in China, Japan, Europe)...all imported goods.

But yeah, like most Western countries we are importing more goods and services than we are exporting (hence the trading deficit), so who do we blame there.

IMO, we have basically sold ourselves out to those countries with cheaper wages.

The workers and consumers (us) are the ones to really blame.

 

Strong dollar was US's strategy for a long time for lots of reason. funny thing is everybody knows USD is going down but Timmy and Beneke still said "oh we are still doing strong dollar", and on the other hand they just keep printing money

You simply can't blame China for the trade surplus, they have lower labor cost because their cost of living was nowhere as high as us. then obviously everybody would want to make their stuff in China. So China gets more and more money, that makes sense. since everyone is moving their money into China.

but Now China has the money, obviously they want to "spend" some right? ok, now they want to buy something from US, but thanks to our stupid government, we said "nope, not going to happen, don't even try to buy our stuff, we will not sell anything to the chinese, simple as that."

Funny thing is they keep saying china has a lot of money blah blah blah and RMB is undervalue. but honestly, RMB is not even undervalue, imo, they are WAY overvalue. US said its undervalue because they want to push RMB up while DEvalue the USD so we don't have to pay China back. not as much.

Borrowing from China is dumb? how about we should consider the way we spend? we spend our money on useless **** for no reason.

 

^^^^^
The main part of that I seriously disagree with is the "our government won't let the Chinese buy anything" part - where did that come from? Are we talking about weapons, or something else?

Also, we owe the Chinese $, not RMB. So, we print more.

Behind the econometric smoke, it's pretty simple. Currency is only worth what it buys, and if we don't start producing more than we consume, then our currency will diminish in value.

 

Any double digit price increase for any Mazda vehicle sold in the US will absolutely crush them. Nobody will buy them. Mazda vehicles seem to only appeal to a small niche market in this country. Their only hope is for the SkyActive tech to be an absolute huge hit.

...and any chance a new rotary car actually makes it to production is already dead in my mind. I just can't see it happening anymore.