Mazda Motor Corporation announced that production has begun at its new plant in Mexico. The plant, named Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operation (MMVO), is located in Salamanca, in the state of Guanajuato. The first model produced was a Mazda3 sedan (known as Axela in Japan) for the U.S.

Mazda has sold approximately 180,000 vehicles in Mexico since it entered the market in 2005. In 2013, the brand sold a record 33,000 units in the country. In addition to the U.S, MMVO will produce the Mazda3 for other countries in the Americas and for Europe. Moving forward, Mazda intends to strengthen its production system in Mexico and expand the production model line-up to include the Mazda2 (Demio in Japan), according to the automaker.