January 28, 2005

Fire-damaged Mazda plant to resume production in April

Hiroshima, Japan - Mazda Motor Corporation announced today that the paint shop at its Ujina No.1 Plant (U1) that was damaged during a fire in December 2004 is to be completely restored, resuming full production with integrated painting and vehicle assembly in April 2005.

Initial estimates of a 70,000 unit production loss have also been revised, with strong recovery efforts Mazda has undertaken to produce an estimated 40,000 additional units, resulting in a loss of an estimated 30,000 units due to the fire's interruption.

Mazda is on track to make a rapid recovery from the fire in approximately four months - faster than the more-than-six-month restoration period that was initially forecast-due to a module-based construction system that has reduced both construction time on the affected area of the building and the interval required for the installation of new production equipment. The eco-friendly Three Layer Wet Paint System will also be introduced to the newly refurbished U1 line and is an additional reasons Mazda will be able to complete the restoration project so quickly.

Production of the MX-5, RX-8, MPV, Demio, Verisa, Bongo and Bongo Brawny vans will resume in mid-February at U1 by utilizing the paint shop of the Ujina No.2 Plant (U2) and at other company's facilities for integrated production.

Manufacture of the Demio and Verisa has already begun and MPV production is scheduled to begin at the end of January. With the exception of the Bongo Friendee, Mazda will restart production of all models previously produced on the U1 line before the fire.

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