Bristol Port has received a first shipment of Mazda cars from Japan after the manufacturer chose it for its new direct UK import route.
Mooring at Bristol’s Royal Portbury Dock last Monday (March 28), the NOCC Atlantic delivered 2,355 cars to Mazda’s new automotive port handling centre within the Bristol Port Company estate.
The opening shipment is the first time Mazda UK has imported directly to these shores, and sees Bristol Port become Mazda’s fourth port of entry in Europe, joining Barcelona, Antwerp and Zeebrugge.
Prior to its investment in Bristol Port, Mazda previously imported cars to Zeebrugge and then distributed them into regional hubs in the UK.
Mazda’s new Bristol compound facility provides capacity for over 8,000 vehicles, as well as a centre for vehicle inspection and preparation.
Over the course of the next 12 months, the new centre will receive a vessel every 10 days or so with between 1,000-1,200 cars on board.
Mazda said it had chosen to partner with Bristol Port on its new direct UK route due to its “excellence in UK automotive port handling”.
Mazda Motors UK, sales director, Peter Allibon, said: “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.
“Our new UK compound will allow for a wider range of available stock with a 10-14 day delivery window to a dealership, which will optimise the customer experience with better choice and faster post production delivery times.”
All Mazda UK production comes from the firm’s plants in Hiroshima, Miyoshi and Hofu plants. The company said the new Japan to the UK shipping logistics route would remove the risk of delays arising from Europe to UK transit, such as disruption at the Channel Tunnel or ferry issues.
We were delighted to welcome the first direct shipment of Mazdas from Japan last week and look forward to establishing an ongoing and successful association with the Mazda UK team. https://t.co/d9gSulZffR
— Bristol Port (@bristolport)
In addition, Mazda said its new Mazda 2 Hybrid model, which is built in France, will begin arriving in Bristol later in the spring, shipping from Zeebrugge, Belgium on a regular basis.
The Bristol Port Company’s automotive trade director Tony Dent, said the port was “delighted” to have been selected by Mazda as its sole import centre into the UK.
Mr Dent said: “With our first direct shipment of Mazda vehicles having been discharged at Portbury Dock, we look forward to establishing an ongoing and successful association with Mazda. As the main UK port for cars from the Far East, Bristol Port is in a prime position to provide the ideal logistics solution”.
Bristol Port handles the import of over half a million vehicles a year.
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