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Mazda’s European revival stays on track

Mazda established itself as the third best-selling Japanese brand in Europe for the first 10 months of the year with a strong performance in October which saw sales up 15.2 per cent.

Total sales for the month were 15,906, up from 13,803 in October last year. This gives Mazda sales of 175,194 for January to October, an increase of 32.2 per cent in a market down 1.3 per cent at 12,188,465.

Mazda’s share of the Western European* market for the month was 1.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent for the ten months overall, according to the latest provisional figures from ACEA, the European automobile constructors' association. Last year, Mazda had a one per cent market share.

The ten-month performance puts Mazda on track for a two per cent market share "in the medium term," according to Dan Morris, president and chief executive officer of Mazda Europe.

He believes that Mazda will be able to maintain its momentum through 2004 with a full year of Mazda3 and RX-8 sales.

Toyota and Lexus remain the best-selling Japanese brands with year-to-date sales of 582,729 followed by Nissan on 334,399. Mazda is now third, ahead of Honda whose January-October sales climbed to 170,327 from 159,002 in 2002, an increase of 7.1 per cent.

Best performance for the first 10 months has been that of Kia with sales up 51.9 per cent to 92,265, while BMW’s Mini has seen sales up 13 per cent at 102,082 for the year so far.

In the UK, Mazda sales to the end of October have increased by 35.5 per cent to 32,213, on track for the 39,000 sales for the full year predicted by Jeremy Thomson, marketing director for Mazda Motors UK.

With Mazda3 due to be launched in the New Year and a full year of RX-8 sales, the momentum should continue. He expects 12,000 Mazda3 sales with the range getting a boost in mid-year when the 110PS diesel models arrive. These will be powered by a diesel engine from the Ford-PSA joint venture.

A full year of RX-8 should see at least 6,000 sold. "We've already taken orders for 1,454, each with a £1,000 deposit. In Germany, where Mazda sales are double the UK, only 600 RX-8 have been ordered so far," said Thomson.