Mazda Cars rolling off assy line every 54 seconds

[Rusty Heap]

Would you really buy or even "want" a car that is so rapidly and mass fast produced that one rolls off the assy line every 54 seconds?



Quality control either has to have parts that fit perfectly the first time, or man these cars must suck for fit and finish.



I'm guessing the later.

HOFU, Japan: Fast plant is boost for Japan auto also-ran Mazda | Job News | Tri-CityHerald.com

[911SauCy]

Your correct leaning toward the latter. BIL's girlfriend just picked up a CX-5, for a cool $34k...

Fit and finish can be likened to a Revell Skill 1 snap together.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Need to sign in to read the article.....

Is that really any different than other mass produced cars? I suspect not. I've always been happy with the Mazdas that I've owned and driven, quality on par with other Japanese makers but much more fun to drive.

[recycled sixtie]

I would have no trouble in buying a Mazda 3 right now. If they are rolling off the assembly line that fast there must be a good demand for them. I have checked Consumer Reports and they seem to be one of the more reliable econo boxes out there.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Honestly, most cars today don't rate well in my book regarding quality. They last longer and are more reliable, but they all seem to use increasingly cheaper means of assembly and materials. Put a Toyota from the 1990s next to one built today, there's no comparison. My 1991 Land Cruiser would put a modern one to shame, and at 200k it was rattle-free and looked nearly new. Most modern cars are a sea of hard plastic that snaps together.

[Shuie]

FWIW, TMMK was rolling a car out of final assembly and onto a truck every 58 seconds during '97-'98 when I did my engineering co-op there. 3 different models off of 2 combined assembly lines running 3 shifts a day w/lots of OT and Saturday work. IIRC, they produced between 400k-500k total cars out of that facility that year. They would not have made them that fast if the buyers were not lined up at the dealerships waiting for them.

[BReif61]

Would I? Yes. I had a 2009 Speed 3 and loved it.

It's not one line punching out one every minute. Let's keep that in mind.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Honestly, most cars today don't rate well in my book regarding quality. They last longer and are more reliable, but they all seem to use increasingly cheaper means of assembly and materials. Put a Toyota from the 1990s next to one built today, there's no comparison. My 1991 Land Cruiser would put a modern one to shame, and at 200k it was rattle-free and looked nearly new. Most modern cars are a sea of hard plastic that snaps together.

Agree. I had a 1989 Honda that was so well screwed together, the materials and fit and finish were to a high standard. Working under the hood was a pleasure; lots of metal components and fasteners. I hate that so many contemporary fasteners seem to be one-time use. You disassemble it, it breaks and you need all new pieces to put it back together.

[Zeke]

With 20 seconds left over.

[LeeH]

From the article:

"The Hofu plant can barely keep up with demand. Its pace betters that of Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, which can roll out a vehicle at paces varying from 57 seconds to 115 seconds."

So Mazda's 54 seconds is a problem, but Toyota's 57-115 seconds is okay?

[nostatic]

[Christien]

My father in law used to work at the Ford plant where they made Crown Victorias (cop cars and taxis). I think the spec there was 90 seconds - not much longer. I've read Porsche cranks one out every 6 minutes. That's the whole point of assembly lines, isn't it?

[Nathans_Dad]

I currently drive a CX-9, no complaints here...

[DonDavis]

Do you really think each vehicle is assembled in 54 secs?

[mikesride]

I am not a mazda fan at all, but I would think that's maybe close to the standard rate. A buddy of mine worked on the Chrysler line making chargers and challengers (new era) and he had something silly like 45 seconds to bolt an entire door on.

[dhoward]

I worked at a Chrysler plant in '77. We ran 74 cars an hour.

[Rick Lee]

I toured the Porsche factory and I'm pretty sure, in the hour or so we spent walking around, the first car we saw on the line wasn't even close to getting to the end of it by the time we were done.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I toured the Porsche factory and I'm pretty sure, in the hour or so we spent walking around, the first car we saw on the line wasn't even close to getting to the end of it by the time we were done.

We are talking about 2 different things, how long at a station and how long from start to finish. I think on average a car takes 8 hours to complete. Morgans take 6 days. I guess you could divide the total minutes by the station time and figure out how many times the car hits a station. Sometimes more than one operation takes place at a station.

[LeeH]

Compare Nostatic's BMW assembly line video to the Mazda6 assembly line. Looks like the Mazda workers are just moving faster...

[aigel]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Compare Nostatic's BMW assembly line video to the Mazda6 assembly line. Looks like the Mazda workers are just moving faster...

Because they play it faster, not because they are faster. Check out how they walk towards the end of the movie. Also, the bolt installs on the under-engine pan are just way too fast to be real.

You can tell that a lot of the stuff snaps together quickly. Great for assembly. On a 10 year old car with brittle plastic? Not so much.

Reminds me of all the snap in crap on the new 911. Nobody will be able to touch those in 20-30 years without it crumbling in their hands.

G