Mazda wants to sell 80,000 units in 2013

The Thai unit of Japan's Mazda Motor expects to lift sales by another 10% this year after posting record sales of 73,764 units in 2012, helped by the government's first-time car buyer scheme.

New models and limited editions will be launched each quarter, says Mr Yuki.

Choichi Yuki, managing director of Mazda Sales (Thailand), said the company is aiming for total sales of 80,000 units this year.

"The company saw an excellent performance in 2012, increasing 76% from 41,980 units the year before. The Thai automobile market, meanwhile, was able to achieve record sales of almost 1.42 million units, equivalent to a growth of 79%," he said.

"The growth does not stop there. This will be a year of intense competition and auto sales are expected to exceed the 1-million-unit mark for the second time with a total of 1.2-1.3 million units."

The 2013 company sales target will be made up of 60% passenger cars and 40% pick-up trucks, which is a highly challenging market for all carmakers in Thailand and domestic demand may not grow.

However, Mazda plans to raise its market share to 6-7% this year from 5.2% in 2012, he added.

Moreover, the company will introduce an additional 20 showrooms and service centres nationwide. This will give a total of 165 showrooms compared to 145 last year.

"We are planning to launch new models including limited editions in every quarter of 2013, supported by design and technology such as the Mazda 3 S Plus, which was introduced at the Motor Expo 2012, and the Mazda 2 Special. The new fuel-saving technology, SkyActiv, will be launched this year," said Mr Yuki.

Marketing director Sureethip La-Ongthong Chomthongdee said Mazda has backlog orders of around 21,500 units from 2012 to be delivered within a couple of months. But the Mazda 2, the top passenger car model, may take more than three months to be delivered.

However, the company has already increased the production at its Rayong factory to the maximum level of 4,500 passenger cars and 2,700 pick-ups to meet orders.

"After we have cleared all back orders, the demand for passenger cars may slow in the second half. The pick-up truck market will see stronger competition among automakers than last year, but every market segment will return to normal," she said.

Mazda will spend 600-700 million baht on marketing activities this year, especially for advertisements touting major sales promotion campaigns such as its free maintenance programme for two years.

Via Bangkok Post