One trend that seems constant is that an automaker's success is directly related to how fresh, exciting and value-oriented its
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| Mazda's success is directly related to how fresh, exciting and value-oriented its product lineup is. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
product lineup is. Honda, Hyundai and Ford are struggling due to few new additions to less than exciting new vehicle lineups. Honda should see nominal gains from its new Odyssey and Ford should see major progress from its Five Hundred sedan, Freestyle crossover and new Mustang coupe. Toyota, Nissan and Chrysler are maintaining relatively flat sales in a down market because they each introduced new products earlier this year.
So why are Mazda sales up so significantly over 2003? At first it might seem that the Japanese brand must have experienced an especially bad previous year, and that sales for 2004 are good enough to totally overshadow 2003. But this is not the case, as Mazda has been improving on previous successes almost year after year, 2002 being an all-time record.
Model year 2004 success can be broken down to two significant numbers, 3 and 6. The debut of the brand's stylish 6 sedan last year
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| The 3 and 6 are selling better than any compact and midsize models in Mazda's history. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
was soon followed by the compact 3, in 4- and 5-door variants, and recently by more 6 iterations, the 5-door Sport and extremely attractive wagon. Consumers have responded, and the 3 and 6 are selling better than any compact and midsize models in the automaker's history. Actually, "the new 3 has taken the country by storm, outselling the bestselling Honda Civic in February and March of this year," said Young. No doubt it would have done better if Mazda was able to keep up with demand, but global supply has been drained due to its popularity around the world. Despite not having enough 3s to satisfy interest, Mazda Canada was bullish when ordering its 2004 allotment. "We were a little optimistic when we estimated what demand would be compared to Protegé," commented Young, adding, "We got everything we asked for."
