Mazda 2007 Annual Report Download - page 40
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Mazda maintained its growth trajectory in
Europe throughout fiscal 2006, with overall
sales, including Russia, increasing to
301,000 units, up 6.7% from the prior
year’s level. This volume represented our
highest level in 15 years and accounted for
a market share of 1.5%, on a par with the
preceding year.
Contributing to our strong European
sales were favorable sales of new models
such as the Mazda5 and the Mazda MX-5,
and complemented by higher unit sales of
already established models, such as the
Mazda6 and Mazda3. The first full year
sales for the Mazda5 pushed up our
volume in the compact multi-activity vehicle
(MAV) segment more than 50% from the
previous year. Furthermore, the addition of
a model with a powered retractable
hardtop in the second half of the year
boosted unit sales of the Mazda MX-5
more than 60% over the fiscal 2005 level.
Unit sales of the Mazda6 rose 4% from
fiscal 2005. The Mazda3—our best seller in
the European market—generated sales of
more than 100,000 units, representing a
2% increase year-on-year.
These robust sales results helped to keep
the Mazda brand recognition high in Europe.
Our “Zoom-Zoom” brand message is one of
the most widely known in the European auto
industry, and our correct slogan attribution
rate has risen to an average of 40% in
Europe’s five biggest markets.
Mazda car owners rate the quality of
their new purchases highly, as attested by
our top ranking for the third consecutive
year in the quality survey conducted by
Autobild, a German publication.
By country, we posted record sales
levels for the second consecutive year in
the United Kingdom, Russia and Spain,
and we achieved record sales in Portugal.
In addition to achieving these strong
results, Mazda established subsidiary
operations to manage distribution in the
four markets of Russia, Ireland, the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, raising to 19 the
number of European countries in which we
operate distributors directly.
(Retail sales basis)
Retail Sales (Thousands of units)
Market Share (%)
Unit Sales (Europe)
20062005200420032002
301
282
273
250
195 1.5
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.1
Europe