Mazda Motor Corp. said Friday that they will be building a small car for their Toyota brand that will be sold in the U.S. in three years.
The sub-compact will be molded after the Mazda2 small car and around 50,000 units of the car will be constructed at their new Mexico plant which opens in 2014. The company has decided to make a small Toyota in an attempt to compete with other companies like the Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent and the Chevrolet Sonic.
"Through the agreement, TMC aims to strengthen its North American vehicle lineup, while Mazda aims to increase production efficiency and contribute to its profitability," the companies said in a joint press statement according to The Los Angeles Times.
Toyota has yet to name the vehicles and hasn't released an specifics about the car yet either. They have announced though that it will replace the Yaris model which the company produces in Japan according to Toyota.
The partnership between the two companies isn't much of a surprise as Toyota has a history of working with other companies in the past. They have previously worked with Subaru to produce the Scion FR-S vehicle and also worked with Tesla Motors to design an electric version of the RAV-4 according to Toyota.
"It feels like they are branching out to find competencies in other brands where they fall short," said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with auto information company Edmunds.com to The Los Angeles Times.
The company has been disappointed with the reviews the Taris has received so far and sales numbers for the car have been sub-par as well. Toyota has sold only 26,000 cars since the beginning of this year. In comparison, Chevrolet has sold over 70,000 Sonics, Ford has sold over 46,000 Fiestas, Honda has sold over 42,000 Fits, according to The Los Angeles Times.
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