|
Company History
The company was established in 1961 when Ford Motor Corporation of Canada imported a complete assembly plant to assemble the Ford range for the then Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It was forced to close down after UDI in 1965. The Industrial Development Corporation bought the company in 1967 for contractual assembly. Franchise holders were allocated foreign currency for the importation of motor vehicle kits, which the company then assembled on their behalf. These franchises included Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Nissan (Datsun), Toyota, BMW and Mazda.
In 1986 the Government of Zimbabwe instituted reforms for the industry, under which franchises were to be held by assemblers under a vertical integration policy. Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries became the distributor of the passenger and commercial vehicles under government direction.
Lack of foreign currency restricted production, so the company sought a technical partner who could provide the product as well as transfer of technology. Mazda Motor Corporation of Japan was selected as the technical partner and a joint venture agreement was signed in 1989. Other parties to the strategic alliance were the industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDC) and Itochu Corporation, a Japanese Trading House.
The new company started to concentrate on the Mazda brand, achieving significant gains in productivity. The alliance has, over the years, contributed to the enhancement of production capacity, quality and skills development to enable the company to produce world-class vehicles for Zimbabwe and the region.
The assembly line is one of the most flexible in the world as it is capable of producing any automotive products that include passenger vehicles, light & heavy commercial vehicles and tractors.
|
