Mazda this year lost second place on the Australian sales charts to Ford, but the brand says its sales results against other brands are “secondary” to its own targets.
Ford overtook Mazda for second place on the sales charts for the first time this year in August, and to the end of October the Blue Oval remains ahead on year-to-date sales at 83,145 to 81,143.
Further, Ford’s year-to-date sales are up 19.1 per cent on the same time last year, while Mazda’s are down four per cent.
But Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi says the company is focused on its own goals rather than the efforts of others.
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Mazda CX-3
“We have a business plan, and we meet those business plans, and the outcome of that – whether we’re [number] two or three or any number – [is] secondary because that’s an outcome of what all the others are planning,” he told CarExpert.
“What that’s actually showing is significant demand for one product type, which is utes, and [Ford seems to] have the latest and greatest, and others as well, and there’s a strong demand for it.”
As Mr Bhindi noted, Ford’s current best-selling model is the Ranger. The Blue Oval has sold a total of 53,119 units so far this year, while the rival BT-50 is only Mazda’s third best-selling car with 12,800 sales to the end of October.
Ford’s sales are dominated by the Ranger and Everest, with its other models each sitting at under 3000 units. Mazda’s model split is much more evenly distributed in comparison, with its smaller CX SUVs and Mazda 3 leading the way.
Mazda BT-50
“From our point of view, where we’re sitting is where our business plan is,” Mr Bhindi said.
“We intend to sell about 100,000 [units] give or take per annum – that’s our business plan and we’ll achieve that.”
Despite being marginally down on its sales at this time last year, Mazda’s expectation of 100,000 Australian sales per year isn’t entirely out of the question. The Japanese brand managed it in 2023, when it sold 100,008 vehicles.
It was second to only Toyota, who sold a whopping 215,240 units. Ford, meanwhile, sat in third at 87,800 sales – though it’s on track to beat last year’s figure by the end of 2024.
Mazda CX-80
As part of its push to 100,000 sales Mazda has just rolled out its full CX-60, CX-70, CX-80, and CX-90 range in Australia, making us the first and only market globally where all four large SUVs are sold.
Of that lineup, Mazda Australia expects the CX-80 will be the volume seller with 650 units per month. The CX-70 is expected to sell the fewest monthly units at 60, and all four combined are expected to amass the Japanese brand 1400 local sales per month.
Mazda sold a total of 7656 vehicles in Australia in October this year, though the full arrival of its four large SUVs could boost its monthly tallies before the end of the year.
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