Mazda cuts lead times by shipping cars directly to UK

Mazda has started shipping cars directly from Japan to the UK, shortening lead times to as little as 10 days.

The car maker previously imported cars into Europe via Zeebrugge, Belgium, and then distributed then into regional hubs in the UK.

Mazda UK has now invested in a new distribution process that sees cars imported directly from Japan to the Port of Bristol.

The new Mazda2 Hybrid, which is built by Toyota, in France, will begin arriving into Bristol later in the spring, shipping from Zeebrugge on a regular basis.

The new arrangement follows the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with Japan.

The first shipment of 2,355 new Mazda cars arrived at Bristol’s Royal Portbury Dock on March 28. Over the course of the next 12 months the new centre will receive a vessel every 10 days or so with 1,000-1,200 Mazda cars on board.

Peter Allibon sales director at Mazda Motors UK, said: “The team at Mazda UK and our colleagues at Mazda Logistics Europe have worked really hard to update our logistics, port and stocking processes and this new direct Japan to UK operation will bring significant benefits to our dealers and customers.

“Our dealers will have access to a much wider stock choice within our new central compound, which ultimately provides an optimised logistics journey to support customer choice and delivery times”.

Located within the Port of Bristol estate, Mazda’s new compound facility provides capacity for over 8,000 vehicles, as well as a centre for vehicle inspection and preparation.

The new shipping route streamlines UK deliveries and removes the risk of delays caused by Europe to UK transit issues, such as disruption at the Channel Tunnel or ferry issues.

Mazda is expanding its model range this year with the launch of the new CX-60 plug-in hybrid SUV. It will be the first of two new SUV's to join the manufacturer's line-up. A range-extender version of the MX-30 is also due to arrive later in 2022.