Mazda NA is in an interesting spot. Its US sales have been trending upwards. The automaker ended 2011 with sales up 9.1% over the previous year. 2012 started off strong as well, with significant sales increases.
Despite positive sales trends, Mazda is offering buyouts to some of its salaried employees and may need to resort to layoffs if not enough employees take advantage of the offers. The Detroit News speculates that moving production from the US to Japan of the Mazda 6 is to blame. It is reasonable that Mazda N.A. hopes to decrease its operating expenses in light of moving production of the Mazda 6 abroad. After all, why would any company incur the same expense load when cutting output?
Of course, the employees that are usually affected by any production cuts are those assembling the vehicles. Unlike some of its Japanese competitors, Mazda does not have any US production facilities in the south that are not unionized. Since production line workers tend to be unionized, they have greater job security than non-union employees. It is not yet clear what those union workers will do when production of the Mazda 6 ceases. Unfortunately, salaried employees whose workload may not be affected by the move will have to bear the brunt of the cost cutting.
Mazda is in a vulnerable position. A small, independent auto maker that does not offer a full line of vehicles could easily see itself squeezed out of the market. The company has high hopes for its new SUV, the 2013 CX-5, which will likely benefit from the positive reviews it has received.
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