A ‘Domestic’ Car by the Japanese? : Mazda’s New Family Sedan May Get Labeled That Way

Japan’s Mazda Corp. is further blurring the line between American and foreign cars with a new family sedan that may be the first foreign-nameplate car labeled “domestic” by the U.S. government.

The restyled 626 four-door and its MX-6 coupe companion will be built in Michigan and contain more than 75% U.S.-made parts.

Mazda is touting the cars’ domestic parts content at the Chicago Auto Show and plans to exploit it in advertising the vehicles, Mazda dealers said. Mazda will unveil the cars here today.

Plans to increase the cars’ domestic content were in place long before the recent rise in “buy American” sentiment, said Rick Deneau, a spokesman for Mazda Motor of America Inc., the company’s U.S. manufacturing and marketing arm.

The cars will go on sale as 1993 models in April, Deneau said. The 1992 versions of the 626 and MX-6 contain about two-thirds domestic parts.

Mazda sold 68,369 model 626s in the United States last year, all of them built at a Mazda plant in Flat Rock, Mich., near Detroit. It was the sixth-largest-selling family sedan in a category led by the Honda Accord.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees federal fuel-economy requirements for each auto maker’s fleet of cars sold in the United States. The agency labels car models as domestic or imported, depending largely on whether the model has at least 75% domestic parts content, according to Tom Ball, chief of the EPA’s certification branch. Ball said the designation of the new Mazdas would not come until 1994 or 1995, after the EPA tallies up the 1993 model year.

The 1992 Mercury Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria are considered imported cars because of their high content of Mexican-made parts.