Mazda Motors is looking to rework its brand image in the United States by introducing better fuel efficient cars in the market. The net units sold by Mazda in the U.S.A were just 229,566 in the last year. This year is also not been much better for Mazda and they are expected to sell around a quarter of a million units in 2011. It was in the year 1986 that Mazda had reportedly sold more than 330,000 units. Mazda in order to change this current trend has decided to boost its brand and is hoping to increase its annual sales by 74 % to almost 400,000 units by the 2015.
According to Mazda USA’s Senior Vice President, Robert Davis, they will be proving overhauled models of the current Mazda cars in the market. The next generation cars will be provided with the improved SkyActiv engine which has improved fuel efficiency and more output power. They shall also feature an enhanced gearbox thus improving the mileage by almost 18 per cent. The car is expected to give 40 miles per gallon of fuel under highway conditions.
The biggest competitor for Mazda is Hyundai Motors who have been releasing many of its models with high fuel economy. Under highway conditions the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Elantra Compact are supposed to provide a mileage of 40 miles per gallon.
Mazda is currently lagging behind Subaru, Kia and Hyundai Motors in terms of U.S. sales. However, their new plan to enhance fuel economy without reducing the fuel space or car size might be helpful to sway the customers to their side. Mazda hopes that the SkyActiv engine equipped CX-5 SUV which will be released next year will boost their U.S sales and help them achieve their goals.
Source: http://www.4wheelsnews.com/mazda-plans-to-raise-us-sales-volume-with-sporty-40-mpg-cars/
