Showing off the Mazda 2 at the AAT plant yesterday, from left: Hiroshi Inoue, general manager, programme management division, Mazda Motor Corp; Mazayumi Wakayama, senior managing executive officer; and Auto Alliance Thailand president Kiyotaka Shobuda.

Subcompact cars are growing quickly in ASEAN, and the segment is gaining a catalyst with the new Mazda 2 from the Rayong plant of AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT).

Japan's Mazda Motor Corp is aiming to double its sales in Southeast Asia from 20,000 units last year. It hopes to sell 20,000 units of the Mazda 2 alone next year. The company wants to lift its market share in ASEAN from 1% last year to 3-5% within five years.

The Thai-produced Mazda 2 will be a key element in its future growth in ASEAN, where small cars are in demand.

"We believe the new Mazda 2 will play a pivotal role in our global strategy," said Mazda's director and senior managing executive officer, Mazayumi Wakayama.

Mazda plans to launch the car in Thailand and Indonesia next month, the Philippines in December and Malaysia in March 2010.

AAT, a joint venture of Mazda and US-based Ford Motor Co, will produce an equal amount of the Mazda 2 and the Ford Fiesta, also a subcompact model. The AAT plant has an annual capacity of 100,000 units.

The Mazda 2 was first launched in 2007 with sales of 362,000 units, but it has not been sold in ASEAN yet. Previous models were produced at plants in Japan and China, said Mr Wakayama.

Yuji Nakamine, Mazda's managing executive director, said subcompacts had ASEAN sales of 340,000 units a year out of 2 million overall units sold in ASEAN.

The Mazda 2 will compete with Toyota's Yaris and Vios and Honda's Jazz, increasing competitiveness.

Mazda is planning to export the Mazda 2 to other Asia-Pacific markets later, including Australia, which has a bilateral free-trade agreement with Thailand, said Mr Nakamine.

Mazda sales in Thailand are about 12,000 units with a 2.1% market share, according to John Ray, managing director of Mazda Sales (Thailand).

"We see the automotive market in Thailand coming out of the recession with a possible sales volume of 500,000 to 520,000 units this year," he said.