Mazda rolled the first of its new CX-50 SUVs off its new Huntsville production line Wednesday to loud cheers from workers and big smiles from local leaders.
The new SUV is the company’s first vehicle specifically designed and built “for the North American market,” Mazda executives said.
“It’s designed for people who have active lifestyles, who want to get out in nature and enjoy the ride,” Mazda North American Operations President and CEO Jeffrey Guyton said. “It is every bit a Mazda, but it is also beautifully made for the outdoors.”
“That means bigger tires, room for gear and a design for weekend road trips or cross-town traffic,” Guyton said.
It is a different focus for a company that traditionally built most of its cars in Japan “for the world,” Guyton said. That meant compromises to fit in many markets, he said, “but the ability this plant provides us is the ability to make something that we think will hit a very sweet spot in what Americans want.”
The rollout came almost exactly four months after Toyota rolled its first car off the production line on the other side of the companies’ shared $2.3 billion facility. It was a challenge getting Mazda’s side up and running in the pandemic, but Guyton said production is on schedule.
“You have worked so hard against such tremendous adversity the last couple of years to stand up this plant and build this line,” Guyton told workers. “So, the first thing we’re celebrating today is all of you.”
Guyton said the event was being streamed across the Mazda corporation to celebrate many teams’ help in the day’s success. And he celebrated “our robust partnership with Toyota.”
“That has been instrumental in allowing us to invest here jointly more than $2 billion to create more than 4,000 jobs here in the plant and several thousand more with business partners in the area,” he said.
Dealers will “in just a matter of weeks” be “delighting customers with this incredible ride,” Guyton said.
To build all the cars it wants to build in Huntsville, Mazda still needs more workers, production Vice President Janette Hostettler said.
“As we celebrate this exciting start for our Mazda vehicle and already launched Toyota, let’s send a message outside of here…,” Hostettler said. “We’ve got about 1,200 spots left and for those of you who want to part of this moment in history … and be a part of the Mazda-Toyota manufacturing family, please come join us.”
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle reflected on the cotton fields that filled the giant factory space five years ago. “We’re providing jobs for more than 4,000 people,” Battle said. “It’s very exciting to see it all come together. It’s taken a lot of work to get here.”