RPO83

Mazda Australia has reported a pre-tax profit of $19.923 million for the financial year ending December 2002.
The strong result was struck on a total turnover of $992 million ($883 million for 2001), representing a return on sales of 2.0 per cent

Vehicle wholesales, buoyed a host of new and updated model releases, including a revised 323 range and the new-generation Mazda6 and Mazda2, totalled 39,421 vehicles, an improvement of 4274 or 12.2 per cent on last year.

Retail sales set a new benchmark with the 130-plus Mazda dealer network selling 39,152 vehicles, up from 34,126 in 2001, an increase of 14.7 per cent.

The retail result gave Mazda Australia, which took over national distribution of the Mazda brand from a number of private, state-based companies in 1986, 4.75% of the new vehicle market for 2002, up from 4.4 per cent on 2001.

The managing director of Mazda Australia, Malcolm Gough said: “The 2002 profit reflects the appeal of our new generation Mazda6 and Mazda2 models, which continue to exceed their monthly sales targets.

“The profit also reflects the on-going strength of the Tribute 4WD wagon and the revised 323 range, which has posted record sales since its introduction in June last year.

“The company’s focus on cost control through continual review of operational procedures also delivered this very satisfying profit result”.

With record sales for Mazda Australia last month and the introduction of the all-new rotary flagship RX-8 sports car in July, Gough remains confident of another strong sales and profit result in 2003.

The profit forecast for 2003 indicates the company is likely to post a pre-tax profit of $26.1 million and generate sales of almost $1,060 million.

“We expect our retail sales to further improve to 42,000 this year. If we achieve this target Mazda’s sales will have jumped by almost 53 per cent since 2000.

"With the market expected to improve slightly to 830,000 vehicles, we anticipate a market share in excess of 5 per cent for 2003", Gough said.

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*Retired.