It’s been a busy week at the Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operation (MMVO) plant in Salamanca, Mexico, as the facility is now hosting manufacture of the 2016 Mazda 2 subcompact.
The MMVO plant had begun business early in 2015 by manufacturing the larger Mazda 3 compact, and had announced ramp-ups around that time, saying that it would be able to produce 230,000 units annually once the Mazda 2 would begin manufacture. With that having taken place, the plant’s annual production has been revised to 250,000 units per year; this is due to the healthy demand Mazda has seen for the Skyactiv-powered Mazda 3 and Mazda 2. As the next-generation Toyota Yaris may be sold as a “twin” vehicle to the Mazda 2, production on that car may begin at MMVO in April of next year.
The new 2016 Mazda 2 is expected to be available in the United States sometime next year, though basic specifications remain unknown at the moment. Rumors suggest a 1.5-liter Skyactiv gas engine for the U.S.-spec model, but apart from that, little has been said about what American buyers can expect. As a point of comparison, the Japanese-spec Mazda 2 is powered by a 1.5-liter Skyactiv turbodiesel engine that makes 103 horsepower and 162 lb/ft. torque paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Apart from that, buyers can also look forward to the new Mazda 2 using the Japanese carmaker’s new Kodo design paradigm, especially in terms of grille design.