Mazda sees light at end of Thailand’s Covid tunnel

The previous year saw the company sell close to 52,000 vehicles in Thailand, with the Mazda2 subcompact proving most popular at almost 37,000 units sold.
The Mazda3 added 5,000 units to the tally, while the CX-30 and CX-8 also caught the eye of buyers.
This year Mazda is introducing new products for the crossover and pickup truck markets.
“Although last year the market was highly competitive and suffered unfavourable external factors, Mazda was able to achieve sales of 51,702 units, down 27 percent, and achieved a market share of 5.5 per cent,” said Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, president of Mazda Sales (Thailand). “The total market fell by 11 percent,” he added.
“The first quarter of the year was affected by many negative factors, particularly the Covid-19 pandemic … which has caused an economic slowdown,” Chanchai said.
“The Thai economy is expected to slow this year to below levels forecasted at the beginning of the year. But we hope that government support and measures to help ease financial matters, and cooperation from all sectors, will help the Thai economy move forward.”
Mazda will also adjust the focus of its marketing strategy this year to target online customers during the lockdown.
“This is because the online media are playing a greater role in our lives,” explained Thee Permpongpanth, company vice president for marketing and government affairs.
“In addition, aftersales service is also an important issue as always. Spare parts are now priced near the market average or even lower in some cases, and parts deliveries to service centres are carried out twice a day, he added.