After record sales last year, Mazda eyes 45% jump in 2012

Meanwhile, it believes the total automotive market this year will hit 1 million units despite being affected by the recent heavy flooding.

"We target auto sales for this year at 60,000 units as the economy tends to improve despite severe floods last year," said Choichi Yuki, managing director of Mazda Sales. "Demand for vehicles last year could not be served as much as it should have been because of supply-chain disruption in the automotive industry in the wake of the flood waters."

However, this year the automotive market will recover as a result of the government’s tax incentive for first-time car purchases, he said. The company believes that the Thai auto market will grow to a million units this year.

Mazda will introduce a new model, the BT-50 Pro pickup, into the domestic market this month as well as launching a modified Mazda3 with a 1,600cc engine this quarter.

Last year, Mazda sold 41,980 vehicles, up 20 per cent from 2010, the highest sales since the company began operating in Thailand. Of the total, Mazda2 accounted for 27,714 units, an increase of 23 per cent; Mazda BT-50 pickup for 8,744 units, up 30 per cent; Mazda3 2-litre for 5,476 units; and other models for the rest.

Sureetip La-Ongthong Chomthongdee, marketing director of Mazda Sales (Thailand), said yesterday that the domestic auto market this year would grow by 5-6 per cent, driven especially by compact cars and pickup trucks.

She said Mazda expanded its dealers to 125 last year, from 109 in 2010, and expected to increase them to 140 this year to cover the whole country. Moreover, the company will focus more on expanding its dealers into local communities, where the auto market has been growing fast.

In the meantime, the company expects to increase the number of Mazda showrooms and service centres by 60 this year, doubling their number over the past four years.