Mazda Motor Corp. will begin knockdown production and sales of its mainstay Familia model in China next year, company officials said Wednesday.
The automaker, based in Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, is already producing old-model Familia-like cars and commercial vehicles in China and selling them under the brands of local automakers.
The new production scheme, to be launched in mid-2002, will involve Faw Hainan Motor Co., based in Haikou, Hainan Province, southern China.
The Familia will be the second Mazda car for Faw Hainan Motor to produce in a knockdown system -- in which Mazda ships parts to China from Japan for assembly at the Chinese firm -- after the multipurpose sport utility vehicle Premacy, whose production began in June.