Mazda 3 2014 News

New-car sales hit the brakes in August, the biggest decline since the Global Financial Crisis.

Just 21 cars separate Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 in the 2014 new-car sales race.New-car bargains are set to continue as sales slowed for the sixth month in a row and dealers remain overstocked.Affordability may be at a 38-year-high and prices already at 20-year lows, but new-car deliveries are down by 2.1 per cent in the first seven months of this year (to 649,818 deliveries) compared to the same period last year.Figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show new-car sales dipped by 0.4 per cent in July compared with the same month last year, with 89,867 vehicles finding new homes.Experts say the downturn could be a "hangover" from last year’s all-time record, with 1,136,227 vehicles reported as sold.Industry insiders believe the official data has been distorted because a number of big brands declared cars as sold last year even though they hadn’t actually been delivered to customers.At least one company, Nissan, has admitted it is delivering more new cars this year than what it is reporting to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, so that it can balance its books. Mitsubishi and Honda are believed to be doing the same."If you look at (the official sales figures) it may look like we’re falling behind, but the truth is we’re clearing stuff that was already counted," Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery told industry journal GoAuto."So the (official sales figures) you’ve been seeing from us is understated compared to what we’ve actually been putting across the (kerb)." One source who asked to remain anonymous told News Corp Australia: "The industry has digested most of the cars declared as sold last year, even though they were still in dealer stock, so you will start to see the reported sales numbers pick up later in the year."With the Australian dollar likely to strengthen later in the year, according to economists, and with interest rates remaining at record lows, sharp deals are expected to continue across most makes and models.At the top of the sales charts the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 are in a tighter battle than the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore ever were.The last time the Ford Falcon outsold Holden Commodore in a month, in September 2003, it was by just 48 sales (7409 versus 7361).The Toyota Corolla -- last year’s top seller -- has taken the lead in the new-car sales race for the first time in 2014, just 21 cars ahead of the arch rival Mazda3.The Mazda3 was Australia’s favourite car for two of the past three years and ended the Holden Commodore’s 15-year winning streak in 2011.Official sales figures for July show the Corolla was the top selling car for the fifth month in a row, but it is the first time it has topped the year-to-date tally after the Mazda3 posted an unusually high number of "demonstrator" deliveries at the start of the year.However, only four of the Top 10 brands posted sales gains, and Holden’s 10th month in a row of sales surges came to an end, posting an 11 per cent drop in July compared with the same month last year.The Holden Commodore has also posted its first monthly sales decline for the first time since the new model went on sale a year ago. But at least there was a silver lining for Holden: it had three cars in the Top 10.As a sign of the changing times, in the luxury segment Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division has outsold Holden Special Vehicles so far this year; figures show HSV sold 1056 cars to June (with the supercharged HSV GTS accounting for almost half of the brand’s sales) compared with 1208 AMG Mercedes-Benz cars.Top 10 cars in July 2014Toyota Corolla 3800 -- down 3.7 per centMazda3 3421 -- down 1.2 per centToyota HiLux 3140 -- up 5.6 per centHolden Commodore 2469 -- down 12.7 per centHyundai i30 2434 -- up 6.3 per centFord Ranger 2023 -- up 13.5 per centMazda CX-5 1895 -- up 15.7 per centToyota Camry 1806 -- down 12.4 per centHolden Cruze 1747 -- down 29.2 per centHolden Colorado 1443 -- down 14.8 per centTop 10 brands in July 2014Toyota 16,486 down 5.4 per centHolden 8990 down 11.3 per centHyundai 8351 up 4.3 per centMazda 8048 down 5.6 per centFord 6210 down 7.8 per centNissan 5451 up 7.5 per centMitsubishi 5042 down 10.4 per centVolkswagen 3991 up 0.6 per centSubaru 3121 up 0.6 per centHonda 2708 down 1.4 per centSource: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, percentage change compared with the same month last year.

Ute sales boom to new record in June but not everyone was a winner.

Australia's top-selling car, the Mazda 3, is about to be given a boost with the return of a diesel version. It will be available with automatic transmission for the first time, but the price is expected to be north of $35,000, making it one of the dearer models in the new Mazda3 line-up and about $5000 more than it was previously.After two years at the top of the charts, the Mazda3 has reclaimed the sales lead in 2014 after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla last year. The arrival of a diesel alternative in September with both manual and automatic transmissions will give the Mazda3 an edge over the Toyota Corolla when it comes to engine options. The Mazda3 is already available with a choice of 2.0-litre or 2.5-litre petrol power and will soon have a 2.2-litre diesel in its repertoire.The Toyota Corolla, meanwhile, is only available with 1.8-litre petrol power, although a hybrid option using Prius technology is believed to be under consideration.The diesel alternative with automatic transmission will broaden the Mazda3's appeal; about 12 per cent of Volkswagen Golf sales are of the diesel variant. The previous Mazda3 diesel only accounted for 1 per cent of sales of the model range, but the automatic transmission opens it up to the majority of the market.“We were hamstrung with the last model by only having a manual transmission,” said Mazda Australia's Steve Maciver.  “About 75 per cent of the small-car market favours automatic transmission so there's definitely potential for a sales boost now that we will have the option of a diesel automatic.”A super-efficient Mazda3 diesel in Europe sips just 3.3L/100km using the same engine. But the diesel Mazda3 due in Australia, which has an average consumption rating of 5.0L/100km (12 per cent better than before), has been tuned for performance. “With a class-leading 420Nm of torque we see this car as a performance variant,” said Maciver.The 2.2-litre diesel engine is the same one used in the Mazda CX-5 SUV and Mazda6 mid-size sedan and has 129kW of power and 420Nm of torque. The previous 2.2-litre diesel had 120kW and 360Nm.Mazda is yet to release pricing of the new diesel Mazda3 but it is expected to priced above $35,000 given it will come as an “Astina” luxury model. A bulletin issued by Mazda this week said it will initially be available in a hatchback bodystyle only.This reporter is on Twitter @JoshuaDowling 

Increasing competition in the hot hatch segment has pushed Mazda plans for a Mazda 3 MPS powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre, according to insiders in Japan.

New-car sales hit a speed bump in April: it was the worst monthly result in two years and the biggest slump since a Japanese tsunami wiped out vehicle supply in June 2011.Official figures due to be released on Monday show new-car deliveries are down for the fourth month in a row -- by 5.2 per cent compared with the same month last year, to 80,710 deliveries -- dragging the market down by 3.1 per cent year-to-date to a tally of 347,080.April is historically the weakest month for new-car sales because of the school holidays, but even taking this into account it was tough going.Market leader Toyota had its lowest sales result in four months and only three of the Top 10 brands posted gains.Holden was among those to record an increase in April -- albeit by just 16 cars compared with the same month last year -- along with Hyundai and Subaru.The homegrown Holden Commodore continued its dramatic surge -- up 61 per cent after last year’s record lows -- with its 10th month in a row of sales growth.But the Commodore’s recovery is not enough to reverse the decision to end local production in 2017.The Commodore’s tally of 2443 deliveries in April is respectable in the current environment -- it was the fourth best-seller -- but the result is still less than one-third of its monthly sales rate of a decade ago.It was enough, however, to return Holden to second place overall after being relegated to third place by Mazda for the first three months of this year.The sustained market slowdown is further evidence most of the big brands “pushed” cars onto the market last year to reach ambitious sales targets, and reported vehicles as “sold” even though they had not been bought by anyone other than the dealer.They are dubbed “cyber” cars because they’re reported as sold in “cyber space” -- on the car industry’s computer data -- but are in fact not yet sold to a paying customer.Cyber cars eventually get sold in the months after they are reported, and are not counted twice. But the industry choked on them in the second half of last year as everyone seemed to have the same idea.“The market is still digesting cyber cars, the sales figures should become a more accurate reflection of the market by the middle of the year,” said a senior car company executive who asked not to be named.This partly explains why Nissan is still down by a staggering 35 per cent in the first four months of this year, closely followed by Honda (down 33 per cent) and Mitsubishi (down 12 per cent).Meanwhile, the Toyota Corolla was Australia’s most popular car for the second month in a row but the Mazda3 still leads the year-to-date tally after Mazda sold an unusually high number of “demonstrator” models.One-third of all Mazda3s sold in January and February were so-called “dealer demonstrators” -- more than four times the industry average, which is 7 per cent.Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders said the sales push was a “one-off”, and 1000 of the 4500 demo models were of the new generation Mazda3, normal practice at the start of a car’s life.Sedans again proved to be passé, with deliveries of the Toyota Aurion V6 down by 33 per cent for the month, while the Camry was down by 23 per cent and the Ford Falcon down by 9 per cent.Sales of small cars were down by 8.2 per cent for the month as buyers continued their migration to compact SUVs, whose sales were up by 47.5 per cent compared to the same month last year.Buoyed by low interest rates, buyers treated themselves to a record number of luxury vehicles. Porsche was the biggest improver for the month (up 53 per cent), followed by Jeep (up 31 per cent), Mercedes-Benz (up 26 per cent), Land Rover (up 19 per cent), Audi (up 18 per cent), and BMW (up 10 per cent).Top 10 cars in April 2014Toyota Corolla 3315 -- down 5.4 per centMazda3 3057 -- up 7.6 per centToyota HiLux 2572 -- down 12.2 per centHolden Commodore 2443 -- up 61.3 per centHyundai i30 2271 -- up 5.6 per centFord Ranger 2094 -- up 24.2 per centToyota Prado 1622 -- up 27.1 per centToyota RAV4 1548 -- up 16.4 per centMazda CX-5 1543 -- up 2.2 per centHolden Cruze 1468 -- down 35.9 per centTop 10 car brands in AprilToyota 14,930 -- down 11.7 per centHolden 8010 -- up 0.2 per centHyundai 7626 -- up 4.3 per centMazda 7000 -- down 10.6 per centFord 6449 -- down 5.6 per centMitsubishi 4360 -- down 20.1 per centNissan 4157 -- down 18.6 per centVolkswagen 4019 -- down 12.3 per centSubaru 2903 -- up 13.7 per centHonda 2352 -- down 25.8 per cent* Percentage changes compared with same month last yearSource: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries 

The Hoff's KITT for saleBased on a 1982 Pontiac Firebird, KITT was the car sidekick everybody wanted to roll with. And somebody will get a chance to do just that with the one owned by The Hoff.Holden Commodore sales surge puts it in fourth positionThe Holden Commodore has made a surprising recovery in the March sales race with a staggering 85 per cent sales increase compared with the same month the prior year -- narrowly missing a place on the podium as the nation's fourth most popular car. Preliminary figures show it was the Commodore's third-best monthly sales tally since the new VF model went on sale 10 months ago, as the Holden brand overall posted a 19 per cent sales surge.BMW M3 and M4 | videoBMW shows off the coming M3 sedan and M4 convertible -- arriving in Australia in June -- with some action footage.Mazda joins the demo derby, moving masses of 'dealer demonstrator' carsThe Mazda3 may be Australia's top-selling car so far this year according to official sales data -- but a special investigation by Carsguide has unearthed the industry secret that is driving its sales. A staggering one-third of Mazda3s sold in January and February were so-called “dealer demonstrator” models -- more than four times the industry average for “demo” vehicle sales, which is 7 per cent.Road safety expert slams 'revenue raising' speed finesA leading road safety expert has called for all revenue from speeding fines to go directly into building safer roads -- and warned the government's constant focus on speed is blinding us to other causes of car crashes. The national road toll fell to its lowest level in 89 years in 2013 but more than 200,000 people are expected to be injured on Australian roads between now and 2020. Injury rates are not falling as dramatically and are a bigger financial burden on the community because of the ongoing medical treatment.PlusRenault Kangoo stands up to crash test 2014 Toyota HiAce | new car sales price2014 Nissan X-Trail pricing and specifications 

THE Mazda3 may be Australia’s top-selling car so far this year according to official sales data -- but a special investigation by Carsguide has unearthed the industry secret that is driving its sales. A staggering one-third of Mazda3s sold in January and February were so-called “dealer demonstrator” models -- more than four times the industry average for “demo” vehicle sales, which is 7 per cent.Confidential industry figures obtained by Carsguide show Mazda registered almost twice as many “demonstrator” vehicles than market leader Toyota (4500 versus 2500) in the first two months of this year, even though Mazda sells less than half as many vehicles overall than Toyota.“Demonstrator” cars are intended to be vehicles that a dealer has put on the road for customer test drives. The showroom typically receives a bonus from the manufacturer for devaluing a brand-new car by registering it and putting kilometres on the clock.But in recent years it has become common practice for car-makers to use “demonstrator” bonuses to disguise discounts on brand-new undriven cars. It’s a good deal for buyers but not a true reflection of the popularity of some models on any given month because, although the cars may be declared as sold in the official tally, they may not yet be in customer hands.The confidential figures also showed that Nissan and Mitsubishi sold a high ratio of demonstrator vehicles last year (16 and 14 per cent respectively), which partly explains why their sales hit the brakes at the start of this year. Dealers are reportedly still trying to clear stock that was declared as sold in 2013.Mazda has enjoyed a squeaky clean image in the industry because it typically does not resort to large-scale “demo” deals. But the secret sales breakdown shows 14 per cent of Mazda’s total sales in 2013 were “demonstrator” models.Mazda’s “demo” count began increasing in September last year, the confidential figures show, as it was nearing the end of the race for top-seller status against the Toyota Corolla (which the Corolla in fact won).Mazda “demo” sales increased then even further at the start of 2014, representing 24 per cent of total sales in the first two months of this year, the confidential figures show. By way of comparison, only 6 per cent of all cars sold by market leader Toyota in 2013 were “demonstrator” models.Mazda Australia spokesman Steve Maciver says the high “demo” count is a reflection of the previous model Mazda3 being in runout, and the changeover to the new model. However, industry insiders say the figure is still unusually high and point to other examples of runout models that haven’t seen such a sharp spike in “demo” deliveries.“We’re not playing funny games like everyone else. We’re not playing with numbers to artificially inflate the market,” said Mazda Australia spokesman Steve Maciver. “It’s all down to Mazda3 being in runout and nothing else. As of March you will start to see our demo levels return to normal.”Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders said the demo deals were a "one-off" and included 1000 examples of the new model Mazda3, normal practice at the start of a car’s life.Mazda Australia said production of the outgoing Mazda3 model ended several months ahead of the production start for the new car. “To meet anticipated run-out demand we had to accept delivery of several months of stock all at the one time,” said Mr Maciver. “When we ordered our Mazda3 runout stock, the market was up year-on-year but by the time it arrived the market had slowed resulting in higher than normal stock levels.”He said dealers helped digest the cars by “turning over” their courtesy cars and other dealer fleet vehicles. “During a conventional run-out we're normally able to adjust orders but with the unique situation of having to commit to several months of Mazda3 stock at once, we weren't able to react to the slowing market at the end of last year,” said Mr Maciver. “In order to manage these stock levels we had to ask dealers to register more demos, a large number of which were used to more regularly replace demos and courtesy cars.”Meanwhile official sales figures due to be released later this week are expected to show that the Toyota Corolla returned to the winner’s podium in the March sales race -- after the Mazda3 led the first two months of the year -- but the Mazda3 is still ahead in the year-to-date tally.The Mazda3 now has a healthy lead over the Toyota Corolla, with 12,100 sales edging further ahead of the Corolla’s year-to-date tally of 10,300, preliminary figures show. The Mazda3 was the car that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-year winning streak in 2011 and led the market again in 2012. It was the first time a foreign car led the market since World War I, according to automotive historians.But the Toyota Corolla won the 2013 new-car sales race after swapping the monthly sales lead three times with reigning champion the Mazda3. The Mazda3 led the first three months of the year before the Corolla landed its first win for 2013 in April, and then led the year-to-date tally for the first time in June.In the end, the Corolla was the top selling car for eight months of 2013, including the last four in a row. Incredibly, the Corolla’s 2013 tally was only its fifth-best annual result (the record was 47,792 set in 2007), another sign of the fragmenting market that has killed local car manufacturing.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

THE Holden Commodore has made a surprising recovery in the March sales race with a staggering 85 per cent sales increase compared with the same month the prior year -- narrowly missing a place on the podium as the nation’s fourth most popular car.Official figures released today show it was the Commodore’s third-best monthly sales tally since the new VF model went on sale 10 months ago, as the Holden brand overall posted a 19 per cent sales surge -- the strongest growth of any Top 10 brand and the seventh month in a row it has outpaced the market.However, the sharp percentage increases are largely due to the Commodore posting its second-lowest monthly result ever in March last year (1606 sales). The Commodore’s tally for March this year of 2967 sales is still down compared with the 2012 figure of about 3200 deliveries.But the Commodore’s old arch rival, the Ford Falcon, continued to rank well outside the Top 10, with just 641 deliveries. The Cruze small car that is built alongside the Commodore had a tough run, with sales down 30 per cent on the same month last year -- about half the sales rate as the same month just two years ago.March is the typically the second-biggest month for new-car sales as the Japanese brands have a surge in the lead-up to the end of the Japanese financial year, which closed on March 31. The sharp discounting prompts also the non-Japanese brands to compete.Last year’s top-selling car, the Toyota Corolla, led the March sales race -- but the Mazda3 small car, which was the market leader in January and February, still leads the year-to-date tally. The third-placed Toyota HiLux ute again squeezed the Commodore off the podium in March. But the Commodore still managed to outsell the popular Hyundai i30, Ford Ranger ute and Toyota Camry sedan.The Commodore also proved more popular than the updated Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 SUVs, which ranked just inside the Top 10 sellers list for March. The official figures show the new-car market is beginning to make a recovery after a downturn in January and February. Sales in March were down by just 0.1 per cent, to 97,267 deliveries, while sales in the first three months combined are down by 2.4 per cent.But the downturn has been exaggerated by Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, which have all posted massive sales slowdowns for the first three months of this year, likely because their dealer networks are still clearing cars that were declared as sold in 2013.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

You are, of course, welcome. What is it you say? Kia ora? On the other hand New Zealand’s much vaunted practice of mass importing used cars - so-called grey imports - is a custom best kept east of the Tasman.In view of the response to last week’s column, this is an issue worth clarifying. When New Zealanders had the most wretched fleet of vehicles outside the third world, getting about in Anglias and Zephyrs, grey imports were a means of making motoring affordable.New Zealand’s automotive conditions are not ours. Here, where according to Roy Morgan the average worker earns 26.3 per cent more than the equivalent Kiwi, new car ownership has never been more affordable.Our government imposes tariffs and luxury vehicle tax, yet cars - even prestige cars - sell at a record rate. In the most popular segment, you can get a Hyundai i30, Mazda3 or Ford Focus for less than $21,000 with full factory warranty, capped-price servicing and legal recourse in the event of failure.You have some surety of retained value. Most incoming cars are tyred and tuned for local conditions. What would you get with a grey import of uncertain history flogged by a dealer who is not accountable to the brand whose wares fill his forecourt? Next to none of the above.Many missives I’ve received boast of New Zealand’s six-monthly certificate of road worthiness. None grasp its necessity. D’you reckon it might have something to do with the NZ vehicle fleet being the oldest of any Westernised country? Here there are more than 60 brands to keep competition acute and standards of quality and equipment high.Market pressure does not exist on this scale or concentration elsewhere. New Zealand needed used imports for the very reasons Australia does not. Yet the Productivity Commission blithely advocates a practice that will diminish the quality of cars on the road, erode security of ownership and destroy Australian-owned businesses.At issue is not importers of specialist vehicles who do niche numbers for enthusiasts. It’s countless grey Corollas. Even the basic specification of factory-imported. Despite 54,000 New Zealanders leaving for Australia in 2012 alone, economists tell us the joint’s experiencing an upturn. Great.A country whose fairest city is destroyed by natural disaster deserves all good fortune. I don’t occupy an economist’s lofty perch. If I did, I wouldn’t be blind to a post grey import Australia in which tens of thousands of substandard cars blight the streets - nor to unemployment figures swelled by tens of thousands “liberated” from jobs in car retail.New Zealand, by all means send us your best and brightest. And Russell Crowe if you must. But hold your counsel on this issue. As anyone using their grey matter can see, the scenario for used imports is all black for Australia.