Australia : Mazda has today announced that the cumulative global production volume of the Mazda6 reached two million units at the end of August 2010. The Mazda6 reached this milestone eight years and six months after production of the first generation Mazda6 commenced in February 2002 at Mazda’s Hofu Plant No. 2. This achievement marks the second fastest time – after the Mazda3 – to produce two million units of one model since Mazda launched its new generation Zoom-Zoom product line-up in 2002. In excess of 90,000 of those have been sold in Australia.

Production of the first generation Mazda6 commenced in 2002, and it was the leadoff model in Mazda’s new generation of products epitomizing the company’s Zoom-Zoom brand message. The Mazda6 is a mid-size car which combines sporty styling with exceptional driving performance, and the first generation Mazda6 received high praise from customers. Media acceptance has also been extremely positive with the Mazda6 having won 130 global motoring prizes since its introduction.

The Mazda6 was fully redesigned in 2007 in line with Mazda’s “Zoom-Zoom evolution” concept by building on the strengths of the first generation model and taking them one step further, and it’s environmental and safety performance was significantly improved. In February 2009, the new Mazda6 European specification model was awarded the five-star maximum rating by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP). The same five-star maximum rating applies here in Australia.

Australian-bound Mazda6s are produced at Mazda’s Hofu Plant No. 2 in Japan. Production for other regions is split between Mazda’s Hofu Plant No2 in Japan, AutoAlliance International Inc. (AAI) in Michigan, USA and the FAW Car Co., Ltd. (FCC) facility in Changchun, China. Mazda6 global production volume during the January-August 2010 period was approximately 164,000 units, almost a 50 percent increase over same period the previous year.

Source: http://www.mazda.com.au/Community/News.aspx