Mazda Australia sales plummet in May as Kia takes number two spot

Mazda sales took a big hit last month, as the Japanese brand lost its traditional number two market position to Korean rival Kia.

Official industry figures for May revealed the company’s sales dropped nearly 40 per cent compared with May 2021 – a decrease of 4080 vehicles.

Mazda posted sales as high as 11,248 this year, in March, while its 6.9 per cent market share for May is significantly lower than the 12.9 per cent share it achieved in January.

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Korean brands Kia and Hyundai both outsold Mazda last month, with 7307 and 7063 sales, respectively.

The company was confident earlier this year that it was in a good position to overcome the global vehicle supply issue affecting all markets.

“Restrictions to the global supply chain continue to affect delivery times across the automotive industry,” said Mazda Australia in a statement.

“Nevertheless, we continue to work closely with our dealer partners to deliver customer orders as soon as possible.

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“We are focused on delivering customer orders and meeting demand for top selling models, with a view to further improving stock availability within this year.”

The only Mazda model to register growth last month was the ageing Mazda 2 city car, which rose by 12 per cent – albeit an increase of just 37 vehicles to 360 units.

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All other Mazda vehicles fell by between 20 and 68 per cent. The BT-50 4x4 (down 42 per cent), CX-3 light SUV (down 68 per cent), CX-5 midsized SUV (down 30 per cent) and Mazda 3 small car (down 65 per cent) were the most notable casualties as prominent big sellers for the brand.

Mazda’s year-to-date sales of 43,687 are down nine per cent on this time last year, though the company retains its second place to Toyota in overall sales.

The carmaker sold 101,119 vehicles in 2021.