Mazda3 sales have come on so strong in 2010 that the Japanese vehicle is about to overtake competitors at Honda and their Civic as #1 car in that class.
After 12 years at the top of the charts, Civic is about to lose its thrown spot. So far this year, sales of the Mazda3 are tracking ahead of the ubiquitous Civic. True, it’s a slim margin – Mazda leads by just a hair more than 100 cars so far – but if growth trends continue, Mazda could overtake Honda as the best-selling car in this country in 2010. The Mazda3 has seen its sales grow roughly 15 per cent year-to-date, while the Civic’s sales are down 1 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Dennis DesRosiers, the industry analyst who compiled the numbers, said “You can’t avoid getting one year older every year. When products get long in the tooth like the Civic, and you have a competitor that’s better priced and better equipped, then you have a hard time competing.”
The best-selling brands – Toyota, Honda and Mazda – have reliability in common, Mr. DesRosiers said. They can differentiate themselves by lowering prices, offering more features in a package, and updating the engineering. Honda has been unwilling to compromise on pricing and equipment levels; the Mazda model has the advantage of engineering that is four years newer than the Civic’s.
“The Mazda3 is just phenomenal. Every day we have a few dozen people coming in, and they just want to drive it,” said Alexandre Saillant, the general manager and co-owner of Laurier Mazda in Sainte-Foy, Que. A former Pontiac dealership, in the months since they began selling Mazdas Mr. Saillant said he’s seen a difference in how customers approach the car. “They’re not buying it because it’s the cheapest car around. They’re buying it because they desire it, they want to drive it,” he said.
