HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation and Bermaz Motor Sdn. Bhd.^* (Bermaz) have agreed to begin talks regarding the establishment this year of a joint venture production and sales company in Malaysia. The joint venture is aimed at further enhancing Mazda's business and brand strength in Malaysia.

Malaysia is already one of the leading automobile markets in the ASEAN region and is expected to continue to grow. To capitalize on this potential, Mazda began local assembly of the Mazda3 (known as Axela in Japan) last year and with the new joint venture project, plans to begin local assembly of the Mazda CX-5 early in 2013. Mazda plans to produce 3,000 CX-5s per year in Malaysia.

"Mazda's sales in Malaysia have shown consistent growth since we started doing business with Bermaz in 2008. In the last financial year we achieved record sales results of approximately 6,000 units and one percent of the market share. Local assembly of Mazda3 started in January 2011 and is going well. Malaysia is one of our key strategic markets and we expect further growth there. The talks with Bermaz about the joint-venture production and sales company indicate Mazda's strong commitment to business in Malaysia. Mazda will continue to focus on emerging markets to strengthen our overall business foundation," said Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda's Representative Director and Chairman of the board, President and CEO.

Mazda considers Malaysia one of the key markets in the ASEAN region alongside Thailand and Indonesia. Mazda's Structural Reform Plan sets a sales target of 150,000 units for entire ASEAN region for the fiscal year ending March 2016.

• * Mazda's regional sales company in Malaysia, fully owned by local investors including Berjaya Corporation as its major shareholder.