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Mazda Motor Corporation and Bermaz Motor Sdn. Bhd (Bermaz) have established Mazda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Mazda Malaysia), a joint venture company in Malaysia. The commemorative signing ceremony of the joint venture agreement took place today in the new headquarters located in Shah Alam, Selangor in Malaysia. In attendance were Mazda’s Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, Yuji Nakamine and Bermaz’s CEO, Dato Ben Yeoh.

Mazda Malaysia was established in order to strengthen and expand Mazda’s brand and business opportunities in Malaysia and enable the company to respond quickly to the needs of the market. The new joint venture’s main roles are to oversee local production and distribution of locally-assembled models to Bermaz, sole distributor in Malaysia.

The new Mazda CX-5 will be assembled at the Inokom plant in the Malaysian state of Kedah starting from second quarter of 2013. The CX-5 will be the second Mazda model to be assembled in the country. The first was the Mazda3 CKD, which started in January 2011.

At the ceremony, Yuji Nakamine said “Mazda considers Malaysia as one of its most important markets. Based on this strong partnership with Bermaz, in whom we place our complete trust, we will strengthen our business and brand in Malaysia.”

Joint venture company outline

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda CX-5

Mazda Motor Corporation in Japan and our local Mazda distributor in Malaysia – Bermaz Motor Sdn. Bhd. (Bermaz) have agreed to begin talks regarding the establishment this year of a joint venture production and sales company in Malaysia. The joint venture is aimed at further enhancing Mazda’s business and brand strength in Malaysia.

So far, Mazda began local assembly of the Mazda3 since last year and with the new joint venture project, plans to begin local assembly of the Mazda CX-5 early in 2013. Mazda plans to produce 3,000 CX-5s per year in Malaysia.

“Mazda’s sales in Malaysia have shown consistent growth since we started doing business with Bermaz in 2008. In the last financial year we achieved record sales results of approximately 6,000 units and one percent of the market share. Local assembly of Mazda3 started in January 2011 and is going well. Malaysia is one of our key strategic markets and we expect further growth there. The talks with Bermaz about the joint-venture production and sales company indicate Mazda’s strong commitment to business in Malaysia. Mazda will continue to focus on emerging markets to strengthen our overall business foundation,” said Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda’s Representative Director and Chairman of the board, President and CEO.

Mazda considers Malaysia one of the key markets in the ASEAN region alongside Thailand and Indonesia. Mazda’s Structural Reform Plan sets a sales target of 150,000 units for entire ASEAN region for the fiscal year ending March 2016.

Lastly, do expect some price savings from the new CX-5 CKD units once the production begins roll-out in 2013.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda CX-5

Mazda CX-5, Mazda’s answer to the SUV segment. Think Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Mitsubishi ASX, Kia Sportage or even VW Tiguan. While you wonder how good is the Mazda CX-5, I suggest you to continue reading this review article because the Mazda CX-5 should be in your list of consideration if you are looking for a compact SUV.

First, the Mazda CX-5 is the first production vehicle to showcase Mazda’s new ‘Kodo’ design philosophy. It may not be the best inheritance from the concept car, but it looks quite uniquely designed for a SUV. It comes with bi-xenon projector headlights with auto levelling and sensors for automatically turn on & off. Rain sensors are also included for the wipers to be activated automatically.

The CX-5 looks fairly sized, and the car is not positioned too high like a truck or a large SUV while still maintaining a good visibility level of a SUV. Behind, Mazda has fitted 2 exhaust tailpipes on 1 of each side of the car as part of the design to facilitate the new 4-2-1 exhaust system. Overall, the exterior design of the Mazda CX-5 is crafted quite well balanced following the new design philosophy. The Mazda CX-5 looks pleasant to look in all angles, unlike some vehicles you might like the front but not the rear.

Almost every single thing about this car are applied with new technology, that’s something to shout about. Usually, most of other automakers tend to inherit something from the predecessors or other models in the line. The new interior of the Mazda CX-5 are a step closer to the continental standard. Design is simple yet classy. Almost like a Mercedes with Audi mixed interior but still maintaining the Japanese touch. The material of dashboard is soft and the switches and knobs feels solid when using. To startup the Mazda CX-5, you will push the start button provided along with the keyless entry system, hence no more metal keys. You do get a bunch of buttons on the steering wheels including bluetooth, audio control, auto cruise but there’s no flappy-paddles on this. If you want to play with some gear change, you still can do it on the gear lever but it is not necessary as we have driven it. The 6-speed Skyactiv-Drive automatic gearbox is silky smooth on gear changes.

The blue covered engine lies inside the engine bay is the Mazda’s new flagship technology – a Skyactiv engine. As nicely named it may sound, this engine are designed to save fuel and provide the best power output efficiency. The Malaysia’s version of Mazda CX-5 are powered by the 2.0L Skyactiv engine, that produces 155hp with the compression ratio of 13:1, whereas in countries that provides a high grade of RON in their petrol, the 2.0L Skyactiv-G engine will be tune to 14:1 ratio and will produce 163hp of max output. To give an idea as comparison, the Ferrari 458 are using 12.5:1 compression ratio and the VW 1.4 TSI engine is using 10:1 compression ratio. Technical aside, the Skyactiv-G engine suppose to save fuel up to 15% and will do 6L/100km with the Mazda CX-5. After driving the CX-5, we notice the CX-5 characteristics are slower from 0-2500 rpm but after that the engine gets torquier than you would expect, giving it a very good cruising on the highways. Mazda Malaysia recommend RON 97 unleaded fuel but RON 95 will be the minimum requirement.

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Mazda Motor Corporation today announced it will increase production capacity of its new crossover SUV, Mazda CX-5, from 200,000 to 240,000 units per year. This will be achieved by expanding production from Ujina Plant No.2 to also include Ujina Plant No.1. Upgrades to the assembly line are based on Mazda’s manufacturing system innovation called Monotsukuri Innovation and will enable production of new generation SKYACTIV products at Ujina Plant No.1 earlier than anticipated. The move is made in response to increasing demand for the CX-5 in countries all over the world.

The CX-5 is the first model to fully incorporate SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY. It has gained a reputation for offering both excellent fuel economy and an exhilarating driving experience. Since sales began in February, Mazda has received orders far surpassing initial estimations and upgraded its annual global sales target from 160,000 to 190,000 units for the fiscal year 2012.

 As of July 1, CX-5 orders in Japan had reached approximately 24,000 units, more than doubling the annual domestic sales target in only four and a half months from the start of sales. The CX-5 is proving popular in overseas markets as well. For example, in Russia, Mazda’s biggest market in Europe, orders for the model already exceed 10,000 units, drawing close to the annual sales target of 12,000 units for that market.

Mazda’s representative director and chairman of the board, president and CEO, Takashi Yamanouchi said, “I am grateful for the high praise the CX-5 has been receiving from customers all over the world. This production capacity increase for the CX-5 demonstrates that we are working hard to deliver the vehicle to waiting customers as early as we possibly can. It will also help establish a flexible production system that enables us to produce new-generation SKYACTIV products at Ujina Plant No.1. I believe that it shows Mazda is making steady progress in optimizing its automobile manufacturing processes.”

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda CX-5

Mazda’s all-new CX-5, launched in Europe in February 2012 and also recently launched in Malaysia, has been awarded the maximum five-star rating by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).

This rating, alongside being named a “Top Safety Pick 2012″ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States last March, confirms the all-new CX-5, which employs Mazda’s new lightweight, highly rigid SKYACTIV-BODY, as among the safest cars in the world.

Since 2009, the Euro NCAP rating system awards an overall rating from zero to five stars. The rating is composed of scores in four categories; adult occupant protection (50%), child occupant protection (20%), pedestrian protection (20%) and safety assist (10%). The ratings in each category are based on the following tests: frontal impact at 64km/h, Car-to-car side impact at 50km/h, Pole side impact at 29km/h, Whiplash from rear end impact and pedestrian protection, and evaluation of the Electronic Stability Control (ESC). To be awarded a five-star rating cars must achieve high normalized scores in all four test categories. The CX-5 scored amongst the top performers in the small off-road 4×4 category despite the introduction in 2012 of higher standards in the pedestrian protection category and overall rating.

The CX-5 is the third Mazda to earn the Euro NCAP five-star rating since the introduction of the new rating system in 2009. It follows the European-spec Mazda6 (JDM known as Atenza) and the Mazda3 (JDM known as Axela).

The CX-5 is the first of Mazda’s new generation of products to employ the lightweight, highly rigid SKYACTIV-BODY. Mazda engineers redesigned the body from scratch, rethinking the fundamental principles of structure, materials, and manufacturing methods, with the aim of the developing the ideal vehicle body. High tensile steel comprises 61% of the body and the bumper beams, which fit inside the front and rear bumpers, are made from 1,800 Mpa class steel—strongest in the world used in automobiles. Through this process Mazda achieved a body which is both extremely lightweight and exhibits excellent crash safety performance.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mazda CX-5