January 30, 2008 -- Mazda Motor Corp. (TSE:7261) will reconsider when it opens a new plant planned for North America because of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, President Hisakazu Imaki indicated Tuesday.

"We need to carefully consider our plans because we can't project the future of the North American market due to the subprime loan problem," he told reporters after a news conference for launching the remodeled Atenza, known outside Japan as the Mazda6.

In 2006, Mazda started making plans for building its second plant in North America in 2010 or after to expand its market share. But it has been rethinking the size of the plant and the timing of the opening because of concerns within the firm over the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis since the spring of last year.

Regarding North American sales, Imaki said that there is no visible impact from the subprime debacle.

The Japanese automaker intends to expand its overall lineup by releasing vehicles tailored exclusively for the North American market.

Source: Asia Pulse