SAC 2021 Keynote Speaker: Ryuichi Umeshita

Mark, thank you very much for your introduction. Good morning to everyone. By the way, can you see me okay? I didn't expect this big conference, so I should have asked my mom to make me bigger. Thank you very much to the Southern Automotive Conference for inviting me to join you all today to speak a little bit about Mazda. Maybe you know Toyota very well, but maybe not about Mazda.

First, it is my pleasure to share with you that just last week, we announced the name of the all-new vehicle that will be built at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing. That is the all-new CX-50. This all-new crossover—I'm sorry that I don't have the picture, it's not allowed yet, so it's coming very soon—this all-new crossover was designed specifically for the North American market and will share its platform with Mazda's latest generation products. And also it will feature Mazda's enhanced all-wheel drive capabilities and functionality for our customers with outdoor active lifestyles. We can't wait to show you this all-new vehicle being built in Huntsville, Alabama.

Now, a little bit more about Mazda. Mazda is based in Hiroshima, Japan, and just celebrated our centenary last year. I'm not that old, but Mazda is. We have been selling cars in the U.S. for over 50 years, and our North American headquarters is located in Irvine, California. We employ over 900 employees here in the U.S. and have more than 540 dealerships which provide several thousand additional American jobs.

Mazda used to be around, I would say, 300,000 unit sales. Apparently we're not big, but we do have a very strong momentum. If you look at the left chart, it shows we are the number one brand in increased year-to-date sales versus last year among those non-premium players. And the right chart shows our share in our competing segments. You can see that we have been the red line—we have been growing our share year by year very steadily. Within those five years we doubled our share in our competing segments. And I would say it is not just luck; it is a result of a long-term strategy and significant resources invested across several different areas to build a strong foundation that will deliver significant growth in the U.S. market.

Let me explain those. The first area is our face in the local community or market—the dealership network. Together with our dealer partners, we have invested more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in new showrooms and training to provide our customers a truly great experience with our brand. It expresses Mazda's premium aspiration as well as our goal for dealers to be the local heroes in the market. For example, this is Med Center Mazda, located in Pelham, the southern suburbs of Birmingham, here in Alabama. It is one of those 200 stores already built featuring the new image of Mazda stores. By the end of next year we will complete more than 330, and 80% of our new car sales will be from those new image stores in the U.S. And Mazda owners are rating their experiences at these new stores on par with premium brands.

And of course, the second area—and the biggest single proof of our commitment to U.S. business—is right here in Alabama: the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing. As Mark already explained, the plant itself represents an investment of more than 2 billion U.S. dollars, shared equally by Toyota and Mazda. And we're creating in excess of 4,000 new jobs in the Huntsville area. MTM will produce up to 300,000 vehicles annually, again split equally between Mazda and Toyota.

Third area, and another area of our large investment in this market, is of course products. Customers highly rate Mazda's core values, which are design, driving dynamics, craftsmanship, and quality. And on top of those four, we are investing our resources heavily focusing on the U.S. market. As I said, the upcoming CX-50 is designed specifically for the U.S. market, and the following CX-60 and CX-70 as well.

And the industry experts are taking strong notice. We were chosen as the number one car brand in 2020 by Consumer Reports, which was a very great honor for us. The best car brand for the sixth consecutive year by U.S. News, and more awards for safety, residual values, and designs.

And now we have taken a further step. Just last month, Mazda announced that we will make our i-Activ all-wheel drive system—which we call i-Activ—standard across the entire crossover CX lineup in the U.S. market, starting with the 2022 model year. This move supports the brand's dedication and promise to deliver unparalleled driving pleasure, or what we call Jinba Ittai—that is the oneness between car and driver.

And also toward the future, we recently announced our all-new Mazda MX-30 EV, the brand's first battery electric vehicle. This MX-30 will open the door for a new era of Mazda. It will begin the introduction of several electrified models for Mazda, including the MX-30's plug-in hybrid system with a rotary engine generator. Mazda fans can continue to expect great driving dynamics, beautiful design, and craftsmanship in those new electrified vehicles.

To close, as I explained, this is a very exciting moment at Mazda. We do have a very beautiful lineup of award-winning vehicles, and we are introducing new powertrains and technologies. We have been improving our dealership network for the best customer satisfaction, and of course we do have the MTM plant here for our future growth and to stabilize our business in the U.S. And most of all, we can't wait to see our all-new CX-50 crossover start to roll off what we call the discovery line at MTM in the coming months. So thank you very much for your attention, and enjoy the rest of the conference. With that, let me introduce and hand over to Bob Schwen, the Vice President and Plant Lead of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama. Thank you very much.