• 

  Mazda's Doug Dickson believes annual Australian sales will propel into the 100,000s by 2014.

Mazda could be Australia's number two car brand by 2014 with annual sales of more than 100,000 vehicles.

Work is already underway to boost supplies from Thailand, which recently became the Australia source for the baby Mazda2, in a $400 million upgrade of the company's AutoAlliance joint-venture factory.

Mazda Australia's managing director, Doug Dickson, says the light commercial segment, the B-segment (in which it sells its Mazda2), C-segment (Mazda3) and compact SUV sector (CX-7) are the powerhouse classes that will propel Mazda from its current 80,000 annual Australian sales into the 100,000 mark by 2014. He sees a general annual improvement in local vehicle sales of 1.5 per cent a year but, specifically, a 3.5 per cent annual growth of Japanese vehicles.

Thailand will build the next-generation BT-50 pickup, the first total overhaul of the workhorse in 20 years, and it will become a key part of Mazda Australia's showroom push.

Mazda Australia managing director Doug Dickson, speaking at a massive window-on-the-future event in Europe, says the new BT-50 will appeal to a much greater audience and will introduce new drivetrains.

The BT-50, which will be revealed at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney in October - most likely both as a Ford and a Mazda - is the culmination of the T6 development program run at Ford Australia for the past four years. It is expected to go on sale in Australia in the last quarter of 2011.

Mazda will produce dual, single-cab and cab-chassis versions of the new car-like BT-50 while Ford is expected to use the driveline and chassis to produce its distinct Courier and Ranger series. Ford is also going ahead with a four-door wagon SUV based on the T6 chassis. This would be similar to the Mitsubishi Triton-based Challenger.

However, Dickson says there are no current plans for Mazda to follow the SUV move, although the company might eventually have a smaller wagon or SUV to slot under the successful CX-7 and replace the Tribute. This would be a couple of years away.

The new wagon is likely to be the CX-5 and could be Mazda's interpretation of the Ford Kuga SUV, which is also expected to be produced in Thailand from about 2012.

The $400 milion aditional investment in the joint-venture Thai factories is on top of nearly $2 billion spent there since 1985. The joint venture exports Ford and Mazda utes to more than 130 countries. A new state-of-the-art passenger car plant was opened in July 2009 and is currently producing the Mazda2 and Ford Fiesta for sale in Thailand as well as for export to ASEAN and other countries.