Business Notes Autos

Landing a job at the new Mazda auto plant in Flat Rock, Mich., will be something like getting into an Ivy League college, only tougher. About 130,000 workers have applied for 3,100 production slots at the Japanese company's first U.S. factory, which will open in 1987. Applicants first had to present their qualifications by mail. Selected job seekers will now undergo in person an unusually exhaustive battery of tests that will rate their reading, verbal, mechanical and problem-solving skills. They will also be tested for the presence of drugs in their systems.

Personality will be important too. Says Mazda Spokesman James Gill: "We'll be looking for evidence of an individual's ability to participate in a team environment." So far, Mazda has said nothing about testing applicants' ability to sing the company song.