New models drive Mazda sales well over market average
Thanks to the high demand for its new SKYACTIV models, Japanese automaker Mazda has been able to better the market average over the first half the year and almost match its performance from a year ago.
While the Thai auto market fell on the year by 16 per cent from January to June to 380,000 units, according to Mazda, the Japanese company sold 17,000 vehicles, down 1 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Mazda Sales Thailand president Hidesuke Takesue said sales of the Mazda2 went up by 110 per cent to 7,220 units and the Mazdz3 sales went up by 4 per cent to 3,751 units. However, BT-50 sales dropped by 42.5 per cent to 4,117 units and sales of the CX-5 fell by 42 per cent to 1,734 units.
The BT-50 has been given a facelift and is slated for launch next month.
Apart from a lower customer purchasing power, finance rejection has also risen for |models such as the BT-50, shooting up from 30 to 50 per cent.
Mazda plans to sell 39,000 units in Thailand this year, with the total market expected to finish at 850,000 units.
Mazda plans to introduce the CX-3 and MX-5 in Thailand later this year, and is considering whether to locally assemble or import the CX-3, which shares the same platform as the Mazda2.
