Mazda & Toyota's Unexpected Name For Their New U.S.-Based Vehicle Manufacturing Company

The new name of the joint manufacturing venture between Toyota and Mazda put Mazda fist.

MTMUS doesn't really roll off the tongue, but that will be the new name given to Toyota and Mazda's new U.S.-based manufacturing operations in Huntsville, Alabama. “Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.” (MTMUS) is the official name. It is interesting that Toyota deferred both the first part of the name and also the presidency of the company to Mazda. The new company's President will be Masashi Aihara (Executive Officer of Mazda Motor Corporation) and its
Executive Vice President will be Hironori Kagohashi (executive general manager of Toyota Motor Corporation).

The new manufacturing facility is huge. It will produce about 300,000 vehicles annually. The current plan is for the plant to build a new Mazda crossover not currently on sale in the U.S. market, and to also build the Toyota Corolla. An even split of the production capacity is planned.

The plant will be Toyota's 11th U.S. plant in operation in the United States and will be Mazda's first. The plant will add approximately 4,000 direct jobs to the region as well as thousands of support jobs locally and across the United States in support of the huge plant. For Mazda, the new plant means that its domestically-produced U.S.-market vehicles will go from basically zero to about a third of its total sales in America.

“We hope to make MTMUS a plant that will hold a special place in the heart of the local community for many, many years,” said Mazda’s executive officer Masashi Aihara, who will serve as president of MTMUS. “By combining the best of our technologies and corporate cultures, Mazda and Toyota will not only produce high-quality cars but also create a plant employees will be proud to work at and contribute to the further development of the local economy and the automotive industry. We hope that cars made at the new plant will enrich the lives of their owners and become much more than just a means of transportation.”

“The new plant, which will be Toyota’s 11th manufacturing facility in the U.S., not only represents our continued commitment in this country, but also is a key factor in improving our competitiveness of manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Hironori Kagohashi, executive general manager of Toyota and MTMUS’s executive vice president. “We are committed to realizing a highly competitive plant and producing vehicles with the best quality for customers by combining Toyota and Mazda’s manufacturing expertise and leveraging the joint venture’s synergies. Based on this competitiveness, we will make every effort to becoming a best-in-town plant that will be loved by our hometown.”

Site preparation for the new plant is about to begin and production is planned for 2021.