Mazda’s general manager of the Japanese brand’s manufacturing facility in China believes that Mazdas built in China are the equal of, or even better than, cars built in Japan.

Speaking to Whichcar by Wheels at the launch of the all-new Mazda 6e electric sedan, Hiroshi Ozawa said that every process of manufacturing in Nanjing, China is carefully monitored to ensure that finished vehicles meet Mazda’s quality controls.

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“Basically, our plant adopts 100 per cent Mazda’s production process,” Ozawa told Whichcar by Wheels via a translator. “In the old days, there was an image about Chinese factories and a lot of people doing the manual work. But that’s not the case. We have almost all automated plants in China.”

Ozawa revealed that workers at Mazda’s Nanjing facility undergo rigorous training in Japan before returning to China to implement Mazda’s production processes.

But while he acknowledged that much of Mazda’s manufacturing is automated, build quality and fit-and-finish are undertaken by workers.

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“We have fit and finish which is the last process,” he said. “Even in the Japanese plant we use human workers to make sure there is no distortion to the surface. Perfection. That’s something very important for the mazda brand, perfection at the finish.

“So we invite the Chinese [workers] to Japan to give them proper training. And those [workers] return to China and they make sure in the final process, that those vehicles are perfectly made.

“In that sense their quality is the same as the Japanese plant. It is actually really equal or even better when compared with the Japanese plant.”

Mazda Australia boss, Vinesh Bhindi, added that the success of Mazda’s partnership with China’s Changan Automobile has opened the door for more cars bearing the Made In China label making their way to Australia, including those wearing Mazda badges.

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“So if there [is an] expansion of [Mazda’s] partnership from China, we would be looking at whatever comes out of it as an option for Australia, not because of cost base, [but] because we’ve always taken the view [to] give customers the choice, hence we’ve got the broadest Mazda portfolio, probably in the world.”

He added that he believed Mazda’s partnership with Changan Automobile could serve as a blueprint for other manufacturers to follow suit. Hyundai, Kia and Tesla already manufacture some models for the Australian market in China.

“I can see more and more companies will look at similar partnerships to source cars that talk to a certain number of Australian consumers to whom a sharper price is what they are looking for,” Bhindi told Whichcar by Wheels. “So, from an Australian point of view, we are in a fortunate position that we can source cars from Japan, we can source cars from Thailand, and now we can source cars from our partnership in China. So that gives us a balanced portfolio to look at different value propositions for different customers who look at their specific needs. So that’s the fortunate part that we have. And that’s very important.”

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The new Mazda 6e electric sedan is the first car from the collaboration between Mazda and Changan Automobile available in Australia. Launched in Australia last week, the 6e is fitted with a 78kWh battery offering a WLTP claimed 560km of range. A single 190kW/290Nm electric motor powers the rear wheels. It’s priced from $49,990, plus on-road costs. It will be joined later this year by the Mazda CX-6e electric SUV, which is also manufactured at Mazda’s Nanjing factory.