[Masamichi Kogai, Representative Director and President and CEO]

Good morning (Good afternoon), ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you all for taking time out from your busy schedules to join us here today to mark the start of pre-sale orders for the all-new Mazda Demio (Mazda2). We are accepting orders for the new model at Mazda dealers starting from today, and sales will begin on September 26.

Since launching the Mazda Demio in 1996, with each redesign we have offered customers a new concept of what a subcompact car could be. The first generation featured a spacious and functional cabin, while the second generation delivered driving performance unheard of in the B-segment. In 2011, the Demio became our first model to get the SKYACTIV-G gasoline engine and delivered fuel economy on par with the hybrid electric vehicles of the day. For reasons such as these, the Demio has become one of Mazda's key models, with global sales totaling 2.4 million units over the past 18 years.

With this fourth generation model our aim was to take the technologies, design language and philosophies that have defined our new-generation products starting with the Mazda CX-5 and squeeze them all into the Demio's compact body. This is our fourth new-generation product, and with it we strove for innovations in three areas.

The first innovation was to break down people's preconceptions about B-segment cars. In every area, from design to driving feel to functionality, the all-new Demio offers a level of quality beyond what customers expect from the B-segment. In fact, we think that even someone who is down-sizing from a higher-level segment will be very satisfied with this car thanks to features such as the ideal driving position and pedal layout which make long-distance drives safer and less tiring, and the safety-first Human Machine Interface, which includes Active Driving Display. The all-new Demio's sophisticated interior has a high-quality feel, and KODO design language has been applied to the compact body, which delivers Mazda's renowned "Jinba-Ittai" driving performance.

The second area of innovation is the further popularization of clean diesel engines. In order to offer all of our customers driving performance as well as outstanding safety and environmental performance, we have developed a small diesel engine suitable for subcompact cars. It will be available in the Demio, our biggest-selling car in Japan, and we expect the diesel engine model to account for 50 percent of sales.

I am pleased to inform you that 60 percent of all diesel-powered passenger vehicles sold in Japan last year were Mazdas. In order to fulfill our responsibility as a pioneer in Japan's clean diesel market, we will work to further increase acceptance of this great technology.

Thanks to the low compression ratio concept inherited from the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 available since the CX-5, the new diesel engine delivers excellent environmental performance without resorting to a nitrogen oxide aftertreatment system. It also offers powerful driving with the torque of a 2.5-liter gasoline engine and excellent dynamic performance with linear acceleration up to the high-rpm range. Furthermore, in the all-new Demio it achieves the best JC08-mode fuel economy figures of any internal combustion engine-powered vehicles excluding hybrids and micro-minis, as well as excellent practical fuel economy.

Introduction to the Japanese market in the all-new Demio is just the beginning; we will use the SKYACTIV-D 1.5 as a strategic powertrain for volume growth. The B and C segments are comparatively high-volume in many markets, and by introducing this engine in a number of different B- and C-segment models to global markets, including Europe where diesel engines are popular, we will achieve volume growth.

The third area of innovation is evolving our global production system with the all-new Demio.

Production has already begun at our Hofu factory in Yamaguchi, but in order to get the all-new Demio (Mazda2) to our customers around the world as quickly as possible, we will also be starting production in Thailand and Mexico in quick succession. Production at Auto Alliance (Thailand) will begin shortly, and those vehicles will be exported to Oceania and other ASEAN countries. MMVO, our plant in Mexico, will begin producing the model for Europe and the Americas within this year.

This is the first time in Mazda's history that we have begun production of a model at three different plants around the world in such quick succession, and it has been a great challenge. The Hofu plant acts as the "mother plant," developing the latest manufacturing methods, which are then deployed at the other plants. We are committed to producing cars in both Thailand and Mexico that are of the same high quality as those we make in Japan.

Along with introducing our new-generation vehicles, we have completely renewed our production and vehicle development processes through Monotsukuri Innovation. The all-new Demio will help to firmly establish our structural reforms by increasing our overseas production while maintaining domestic production, thus creating a strong business foundation resistant to exchange rate fluctuations.

As for volume, we are aiming to sell 5,000 units per month, or 60,000 units a year, in Japan. Globally our production and sales target is 200,000 units annually.

In every area of contact, Mazda aims to be there for our customers, to enrich their lives, to offer driving pleasure and to put a smile on their faces. By nurturing our bond with our customers in this way, we aim to become a "one and only" brand in their eyes and have them choose Mazda over and over again.

As our biggest-selling model in Japan, the all-new Demio will play an important role in achieving this. We truly believe that this car exceeds the expectations of the segment in every area, but we would really like you to take it for a test drive and discover its charms for yourself.

Now I would like to introduce Doi-san, program manager for the all-new Demio, who will explain the charms of the fully-redesigned model.

Thank you very much.