Hainan Mazda 323 HMC7180 Is A Special Chinese-Japanese Sedan

Here we have a relatively rare Hainan Mazda 323 sedan, seen in Beijing in 2019. The good Mazda was a bit dusty and in need of some maintenance, but otherwise in an okay overall shape.

The Mazda 323 sedan was manufactured by the Hainan Mazda joint venture from 2001 until 2005. It was based on the ninth generation (BJ) Mazda 323/Familia.

Hainan Mazda was founded in 1992 between Hainan Auto, owned by the Hainan provincial government, and Mazda. Over the years, the joint venture made about a dozen different models under two brand names: Haima (from Hainan Mazda) and Mazda.

This kind of double-branding was very common in the early joint venture years, and the practice continued until the late 2000’s. Among others, Hainan Mazda made the Haima HMC6470L, based on the 929 wagon, and the seventh generation Mazda 3. The joint venture used the HMC designation. HMC stood for Hainan Mazda Corporation.

In 2006, FAW came into play. They bought the majority of Hainan Auto and Hainan Auto’s share of the joint venture. The JV was subsequently renamed FAW-Mazda but Hainan Auto kept the rights to the old Mazda platforms. The Mazda 323 then continued as the Haima Family.

The interior was in a pretty bad shape unfortunately, with way too much dust and dirt. This place needs a very good cleanup! Look at the doors, and even the seat covers, for keeping the original seats clean, are so dirty themselves that they likely don’t really work anymore. Happily, the radio-CD unit is original.

The rear is much better. The fabric of the bench looks like new, almost as if  it was never used.

The Hainan Mazda 323 was available with two gasoline engines: a 86 hp 1.3 and a 122 hp 1.8. The 1.3 was mated to a five-speed manual, the 1.8 to a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic.

The car we have here today is a 1.8 with the DX trim level. Output was 122 hp and 160 Nm. Top speed was 165 km/h and 0-100 took 12 seconds. Characters: 海南马自达, Hainan Mazda.

HMC7180 is the mandatory factory designation. Until the mid 2000’s these designations had to be visible on the car, by badge or sticker, like on this car. It is rare to see the sticker in such a good shape, on most cars it is long gone.

Price of the Hainan Mazda 323 DX 1.8 model with automatic gearbox started at exactly 165.600 yuan in 2001, which was a bit steep compared to cars made by the competition.

The Hainan Mazda 3 is therefore, and because it was produced for only a few years, a rather rare car. And that is especially so in northern China. Down south they are a bit more common.

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