Mazda sees future million

Despite the drop in the new car sales market Mazda is looking ahead with the new Mazda3.

"There is no doubt that the current situation is challenging," Mazda Australia boss Doug Dickson said at the launch of the company's all-important Mazda3 this week.

"However, we are looking on it as an opportunity to move forward. If you just pull down the shutters and hope it is all going to go away then there is a very real danger that when you do have another look it will be too late."

Mr Dickson said that while the new car market for this year was likely to be around 850,000 he was quietly confident that there would be a gradual return to the one million sales mark realised for the past two years.

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"In real terms new cars are much more affordable, they are more reliable than ever and they still have a real `wow' factor," Mr Dickson said. "People still want to have a new car."

The Australian new car market has fallen almost 20 per cent below where it was at the same time last year and is currently running at levels not seen since 2003.

Mazda is one of a handful of companies that have enjoyed an increase in market share — if not real sales numbers — this year and Mr Dickson believes that with the launch of the next generation of the Mazda3, Australia's most popular small car, that situation will improve.

"The popularity of the Mazda3 not only makes it an important car for Mazda but an important car for the Australian new car market," Mr Dickson said.

Since the launch of the original Mazda3 in 2004 more than two million have been sold world-wide with 164,000 sold in Australia.