HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (May 25, 2018) – Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (MTMUS) announced today two new members of its executive team. Ikuo Sugiyama has been named Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Huntsville native Mark Brazeal joins the new organization as Vice President of Administration.
Mr. Sugiyama previously served as plant manager for Mazda Motor Corporation’s Hiroshima plant. In his new role, he will be responsible for manufacturing operations at MTMUS.
Mark Brazeal comes to MTMUS from Toyota Motor North America, where he served in general manager roles at the company’s engine plants in Alabama and West Virginia. He will lead all administration operations for the new joint-venture.
“Starting up a new plant represents Mazda’s and Toyota’s commitment to investing in the U.S.,” said Brazeal. “In addition to building vehicles where they are sold, we also want to create a plant in which our community and employees are proud. This is an exciting time for Mazda and Toyota and I am equally excited for the opportunity to serve MTMUS and be part of the Mazda Toyota team.”
MTMUS will have the capacity to produce 150,000 units of Mazda’s crossover model (that will be newly introduced to the North American market) and 150,000 units of the Toyota Corolla. The facility is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs with a direct investment from Mazda and Toyota of $1.6 billion equal funding contributions. In March, MTMUS announced Masashi Aihara as President and Hironori Kagohashi as Executive Vice President.
About Mazda
Mazda Motor Corporation, based in Hiroshima, Japan, was established in 1920, and became a vehicle manufacturer in 1931, when it began producing three-wheeled trucks. Mazda began selling vehicles in North America 50 years ago, with the establishment of affiliate companies in Canada (Mazda Motors of Canada Ltd., d/b/a Mazda Canada, Inc.) in 1968, in the United States (Mazda Motor of America, d/b/a Mazda North American Operations) in 1971 and in Mexico (Mazda Motor de Mexico) in 2004. Currently, Mazda does business in more than 130 countries around the world, and produces vehicles in Japan, Mexico, China and Thailand. Building passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and crossover SUVs, with an emphasis on the driving experience and a focus on design, engineering and efficient manufacturing, the company sells more than 1.6 million vehicles annually.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 47,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2017 – and about 87 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.