* Sees roughly 40 bln yen forex impact vs annual assumptions
* Aims to offset 20 bln yen with sales, better margins-CEO
* Sees 20 bln yen savings from lower fixed, other costs
By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Mazda Motor Corp is aiming to step up sales, cost cuts and other measures to offset an additional negative impact of about 40 billion yen ($493 million) from foreign exchange on its operating profit this business year, its chief executive said.
CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said that with the dollar and euro both far weaker than Mazda's assumptions of 90 yen and 125 yen, respectively, currencies could knock off 40 billion yen more from operating profit this business year than the company had initially forecast.
Yamanouchi said he expects global sales to exceed Mazda's target of 1.27 million vehicles and profitability per car to improve through various measures such as raising sticker prices, and those two factors would hopefully lead to a 20 billion yen lift in profit. He wanted further reductions in fixed and other costs to contribute another 20 billion yen.
"With (exchange rates where they are), we could see an impact of roughly 40 billion yen, and our profits would vanish," Yamanouchi told a small group of reporters on Thursday.
"The strong yen is uncontrollable, but we're trying to control what we can."
Yamanouchi said he would discuss further details when Mazda announces its second-quarter financial results on Oct. 29.
Mazda has forecast an operating profit of 30 billion yen for the year to March 31. The dollar was trading around 81 yen and the euro was around 113.50 yen on Thursday.
With the highest export ratio, Mazda is the most exposed Japanese car maker to currency fluctuations. In the latest business year, Mazda built 72 percent of its vehicles in Japan, exporting 78 percent of its domestic production.
Yamanouchi said that while sales conditions in Japan, the United States and Europe were difficult, sales were exceeding plans in China and the rest of the world.
In Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, sales were trending at three times last year's levels, he said, keeping Mazda's joint venture factory with Ford Motor Co in Thailand working well above normal capacity.
"We (Mazda brand) have 50,000 units a year of capacity for passenger cars or about 4,000 units a month at the plant, and in October we built 6,000 to 7,000 units with overtime and such," Yamanouchi said.
"Even then, we have a back order of two months' worth of production."
He said Mazda was studying how to build more cars in Thailand, but ruled out a new factory anywhere in the world at least until it completes a midterm business plan in March 2016.
Yamanouchi has said Mazda has enough production capacity to meet a global sales target of 1.7 million vehicles in the year to March 2016, except for a slight shortfall in China. ($1=81.12 Yen) (Editing by Chris Gallagher)