Source: www.bloomberg.com

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mazda Motor Corp., Japan's fourth- largest carmaker, will make San Diego the primary port for vehicles it ships to the U.S., leaving an auto-import facility near Los Angeles that it has used for three decades.

The automaker starting in December will import as many as 100,000 cars and light trucks a year through San Diego, Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes said today. Mazda since 1978 has used Port Hueneme, California, as its main U.S. entry point. That lease expires Nov. 30, Barnes said.

``We do expect some reduction in costs with this change,'' he said, without elaborating. ``Using San Diego also puts us closer to our three primary U.S. markets: Los Angeles, Orange County and Phoenix.''

Southern California ports are the main U.S. entry point for autos shipped from Japan and South Korea, with facilities in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Port Hueneme and San Diego processing more than a million vehicles a year, according to the Pacific Maritime Association. Mazda's U.S. sales this year through September rose 3.7 percent to 209,239 on demand for Japan-built models such as the new CX-7 wagon and revamped Miata roadster.

Port Hueneme ranks third on the West Coast for auto imports behind Long Beach and Portland, Oregon, the association said.

Closely held Pasha Group received a multiyear contract to process and prepare Mazda vehicles arriving in San Diego for shipment to U.S. dealers, said Gayle Burns, a spokeswoman for the Corte Madera, California-based port logistics company.