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| Dave Hughes |
MAZDA will officially part from the embrace of Ford Motor Company
on October 1.
Dave Hughes, MD of Mazda Southern Africa said far from closing down
as rumours had it in KZN, Mazda will instead see a dozen relaunches over six
months “to reclaim the brand’s rightful share of SA’s market,” aiming to sell
700 cars a month from.
Hughes said by next year this target will be 400 more a month, and he is of the opinion that 1600 sales can be done in South Africa.
At the new head office in Midrand, the first of 50 new Mazda
dealers were yesterday already being trained towards this goal.
Compared to 15 in Gauteng, South Africa's biggest provincial economy, nine dealers will be in KZN, in which province parts manager Trevor Ward said the rising middle black class form the core of Mazda’s clients.
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| Doreen Mashinini |
Marketing manager Doreen Mashinini said the relaunch campaign is
based on aggressive pricing for its three passenger cars, all with the group’s
proven Skyactiv petrol and diesel engines and — more importantly — a three-year
unlimited-kilometre warranty and service plan.
The Mazda BT-50 bakkie, based on the Ranger, will still be build at
the Ford plant in Silverton and sold with its current two-year unlimited or
three-year 100 00 km warranty.
Hughes said 44 staff had already been hired to reintroduce Mazda to
South Africa’s middle class buyers and they all knew they had a lot of work
ahead.
“Mazda is not broken, just invisible,” Hughes said.
But with a focus on delivering value-packed, premium passenger
cars, Hughes warned Audi, Ford, Honda and VW that Mazda “intends to be a robust
competitor” come next month.
