Mazda Boosts Skyactiv Transmission Production

Mazda is to increase production of its Skyactiv manual and automatic transmissions in response to rising demand for the highly-efficient drivetrains.

Production of transmissions at Mazda's Hofu plant in Yamaguchi, Japan, will be boosted from the current output of 750,000 gearboxes per year to 1,140,000, and improvements to the factory will be complete by July 2014.

A new plant is also to be constructed in Thailand, coming online around the middle of 2015 and planned to produce around 400,000 transmissions per year.

The Hofu plant currently produces Skyactiv transmissions for the CX-5 and Mazda6, while the upcoming all-new Mazda3 will also feature both automatic and manual Skyactiv transmissions.