Versus the world: Mazda Australia not worried about other markets becoming bigger global players

Mazda Australia has long been a big fish in a comparatively small pond, with its local market share outdoing the types of percentages often seen in other nations. But that might not be the case forever.

Locally, Mazda’s 8.5 per cent market share this year so far makes it the second-largest car brand for new-car sales, behind only Toyota’s huge 17 per cent. Of 788,584 new vehicles sold in 2023 to the end of August, 67,189 have been Mazdas.

“We're still regarded as one of the key global markets for Mazda, which is a hugely privileged position to be in and it does give us conversations and decisions that maybe other brands in Australia don't get,” Mazda Australia Head of Marketing Alastair Doak told CarsGuide.

“Our market share for a mature large market is the best one around.

“There are a couple of smaller markets that have higher market share, but they're selling in much smaller volumes than we do. 

“It's something that is very precious - to make sure that we stay in that position and continue to have those conversations with the head office in Japan and other big regions around the world.”

But Mazda Australia’s place as the golden child for established markets might be shifted slightly by another market making huge increases in its numbers - over in Mexico, Mazda’s sales share is up massively.

This year so far, 46,340 new Mazdas sold vs 857,803 new cars in total means Mazda’s arm there holds a 5.4 per cent market share, though its sales figure is up 79 per cent compared to the same time last year.

But Doak isn’t worried at all, saying the privileged position Mazda Australia holds globally would only be strengthened by similar success in other markets.

“Miguel and his team in Mexico do a really good job and we actually have quite a lot of collaboration with our friends in the Mexican market,” Doak said.

“In fact we had three of them here for a week or two just a month or so back to talk about a few things. They have a good business there and they, again like us, have a great relationship with their dealer group as well. 

“I mean I think they really struggled during COVID, and they are in recovery mode, so they're starting to jump back up, which is great to see with those guys.”

Like Australia, Mazda in North America (which includes Mexico, the US, Canada and Colombia) sees much of its sales via the CX-5, with 106,113 sold this year so far in North America overall, though the new CX-50’s 28,302 sales is impressive.

For reference, even at home in Japan, Mazda's market share sits at 4.0 per cent this year so far.

“Like I say we're a big market, we're very strong on brands. We're very strong on market share, et cetera, et cetera,” Doak added.

“We would welcome some of the other regions to come and join us at the table, rather than worry about them having more success… if we're stronger in other markets across the world, then that makes the overall business stronger and allows us to invest in more things into the future.”