Mazda was unstoppable again in September, as the convention-challenging Japanese carmaker resumed double-digit growth in Europe. At just under 17,000 units, sales soared by 30.2 per cent last month compared to September 2012 – the third consecutive month above the 30 per cent mark. The figure was good for a 1.4 per cent share of the European passenger car market*.
Over the first nine months of 2013, Mazda increased turnover by 13.5 per cent year-on-year to 114,000 vehicles. Growth was especially strong in Scandinavia and the UK: Mazda has more than doubled sales (+139 per cent) this year in Norway and is up 52 per cent in Sweden. In the UK, meanwhile, 45 per cent and 14.5 per cent more new Mazdas found a home respectively in September and during the first three quarters of 2013**.
The recent successes have been fuelled by the Mazda6 and Mazda CX-5. In fact, the latter is Norway’s top-selling SUV and the number two model overall Year-to-date sales of the compact SUV have quadrupled from 2012, and it now holds a 3.5 per cent share of that country’s market on its own. Elsewhere, CX-5 sales have tripled in Sweden and almost doubled in Germany, up 84 per cent in Europe’s largest market. The Mazda6 has been likewise popular, with sales of the flagship so far in 2013 rising 240 per cent in Sweden, 80 per cent in Germany and 52 per cent in Denmark. And the recently launched all-new Mazda3 is expected to make a similar splash.
It will be the third model from Mazda’s award-winning new generation, which epitomises the company’s unconventional approach to automobiles by combining riveting “KODO – Soul of Motion” designs with pioneering SKYACTIV Technology. The result is highly-efficient lightweight cars that not only look fantastic, but are exceptionally fun to drive, ultra-reliable and surprisingly frugal. And they’re affordable, too, thanks to some of the most innovative manufacturing processes and technology in the world.
“What struck me about our sales performance was that virtually every market contributed in some way. This tells me that our strategy to build excellent cars that are priced within reach of a broad section of the population is paying off,” says Phil Waring, Mazda Motor Europe COO. “And the media response to the all-new Mazda3 has been amongst the best we have had for any Mazda product in the last decade. So I think we can look forward with optimism.”
* Source for European figures: www.acea.be (European Automobile Manufacturers Association), New Passenger Car Registrations, EU + EFTA
** Sources for national figures: www.bilimp.dk (Danish Car Importer’s Association); www.kba.de (German Federal Motor Transport Authority); bilimportorene.no (Norway’s Automobile Importers’ Association); bilsweden.se (Swedish Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers); smmt.co.uk (UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders)
