Factory guarantees plenty of BT-50s and CX-5s for Australian buyers
While Toyota loses sales as pandemic-related issues impact the availability of its popular RAV4, LandCruiser and other models, Mazda Australia says it has been prioritised by its Japanese parent to ensure it has no such supply shortfalls.
Evidence of that is in the numbers, with Mazda claiming an all-time record 12.9 per cent sales share of the new-vehicle market in January, when it also set an all-time sales record for the CX-5 medium SUV.
Backing up its ongoing supply confidence, Mazda is forecasting a boom in sales for its newly updated BT-50 ute, climbing from its 15,662 record sales in 2021 to a new record of 19,000 in 2022.
Mazda Australia says it is getting priority treatment because it is amongst the brand’s biggest sellers globally, sitting at number two in the local sales charts with consistent sales above 100,000 per annum.
While it sells about half as many vehicles annually in Australia as dominant number one Toyota, that business is a smaller part of Toyota’s global footprint and isn’t getting the supply it needs to service demand.
In January, RAV4 sales were down more than 50 per cent year-on-year. It would be logical to suggest CX-5 sales benefitted to some extent from RAV4 buyers giving up on a waiting list that now stretches out to 12 months and will include prices rises.
Toyota isn’t alone in being hurt by the global semi-conductor shortage and other pandemic-triggered handicaps. The Volkswagen Group in Australia is seriously impacted, while other brands such as Ford and several luxury brands are stripping equipment from their cars to keep building them despite the worldwide chip crisis.
Mazda, by contrast, says it has an average wait time of three to four weeks for its vehicles. It also says there has been no impact on equipment levels because of the tech crunch.
“We are a big market that has got priority,” said Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi. “We are toward the pointy end of the queue. We get preferred allocation and hence we haven’t seen any major changes for our products in this market.
“We are fortunate to be one of Mazda’s top-performing markets, affording us good allocation from the factory. This and other factors means we have been able to continue taking orders and making deliveries within reasonable timeframes.
“Our supply on all models lines is good and improving while we are working toward a return to normal vehicle availability in 2022.”
Mazda isn’t alone in making hay while rivals struggle. Mitsubishi and MG both surged upwards in January as well.
Bhindi forecast overall sales would lift in 2022, despite the last four months including January being down year-on-year. He predicted unusual results from month to month based on the supply challenges created by the pandemic.
“As an overall our thinking is the market will be bigger overall than last year, so above 1.050 million in round numbers. But whether supply will meet that demand is a whole different ballgame.
“The shape and order of the top-performing brands has shifted over the last couple of years and even varies month to month with the ever-changing status of supply.
“Certainly, a big influence is the pandemic but we have new players experiencing strong growth in the mass market and brands gaining share with strong performances form their new product.”
Bhindi predicted the BT-50’s growth would be reflected in the overall ute market, which is already the biggest segment if 4×4 and 4×2 sales are combined.
“Utes are king and demand continues to grow,” he said.
“When you think about during the pandemic the amount of stimulus that was put into the marketplace plus all the projects the government and private sector are putting into place, the ute market will become more dominant than ever.”
Asked if utes could grow from around 20 per cent of sales to 25 per cent, Bhindi said it was a “possibility”.
Mazda has expanded the BT-50 range with the 3.0-litre 4×4 dual-cab SP black-pack at the top of the range and rolled out a family of auto-only 1.9-litre 4×2 and 4×4 XS models at the bottom-end.
It is forecasting the XT model will replace the XTR as the top-seller in the line-up with more than 40 per cent share of sales. XTR will sit at number two on 26.2 per cent and the XS will be third at 11.1 per cent.
Mazda will also roll out the first of up to four all-new large SUV models, the CX-60, before the end of the year as well.
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Keyword: Mazda hunting a sales record as Toyota faces supply crisis