How Mazda Australia could be set for bumper sales in 2025
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Mazda is one of Australia's best-selling brands, but after a few setbacks, could 2025 be the year it finally beats its sales record?
Mazda Australia has enjoyed a solid year but with a flurry of new models on the way – including a new-generation CX-5, refreshed BT-50 and CX-60 large SUVs – could see the car maker back above 100,000 sales in 2025.
"With the support of the recently introduced CX-70, volume-selling CX-80, and a host of changes coming to CX-60 in the middle of next year, we will have a range that is at full strength [in 2025] and will bolster our already record-breaking models such as CX-3 and CX-5," Alastair Doak, Mazda Australia Director of Marketing, told Drive.
A new generation of its most popular model, the CX-5 family SUV, is also set to be unveiled in 2025, but before that an updated Mazda BT-50 dual-cab will arrive to take on the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.
"For 2025, the Mazda BT-50 – one of our most important models in the Mazda Australia line-up – gets a significant update with the latest tech, a fresh new look and even more appealing features," Doak said.
"All of these enhancements combine to make BT-50 more compelling not only to retail customers but also for fleet, so it will have a valuable impact on our overall sales for the year."
Mazda is one of only four brands to have ever sold more than 100,000 cars in a year in this country (the others being market leader Toyota, Ford and Holden) having first done so in 2012.
Its best ever result was in 2016 when it sold 118,217 vehicles.
Mazda Australia has managed to stave off threats from Hyundai and Kia since then, the two car makers climbing the sales ladder, while Mazda has tussled with Ford for second place behind the seemingly unstoppable Toyota.
The flurry of Chinese brands landing in Australia has also appeared not to dent Mazda's sales, either, with its consistent approach and strong dealer network – which grew to 147 in 2024 – playing a significant role in its continued success.
In 2024 it fell agonisingly short, despite its two best sellers – the CX-5 family SUV and the city-sized CX-3 small SUV respectively – being among the oldest models both in its line-up and against competitors.
Yet fresher metal – such as the CX-5 rivalling Kia Sportage, Nissan X-Trail, Subaru Forester and of course, not forgetting the Toyota RAV4 – hasn't stopped Mazda's favourites enjoying strong sales.
The CX-5 is not only the best-selling Mazda here but is the most popular vehicle from the Japanese car maker globally.
Annual updates have kept the CX-5 on Australians' new-car shopping lists, while strategic price reductions and drive-away deals converted them into sales and onto driveways.
That's despite the current generation being introduced in 2017 and lacking competitors' hybrid powertrain options, which helped push the Toyota RAV4 to the top of the sales tree.
Mazda will plug the gap when a new, third generation CX-5 is unveiled in 2025 – arriving in Australia late in the year, or early in 2026 – which looks set to include mild hybrid, full-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions.
Australia is a key market for the brand, so its local head office should have the pick of the global line-up powertrain options for its showrooms, with a taste of the new design direction teased by the 2024 Mazda Arata electric SUV concept.
The brand's second-best seller, the CX-3 small SUV, will soldier on, but there seems no need for Mazda to change a thing.
In the first 11 months of 2024, the CX-3 accounted for 35 per cent of the light SUV segment in Australia, absolutely pummelling rivals. The CX-3 sold more than the next most-popular rivals, the Suzuki Jimny and Toyota Yaris Cross, combined.
The BT-50 – which is twinned with the Isuzu D-Max – is the car maker's third-best seller in Australia, and while sales declined 13.3 per cent to the end of November, some key rivals including the Toyota HiLux fell even more.
Australia is the global product lead market for BT-50 – effectively meaning the local arm determines the spec of the vehicle – and in early 2025 a new version with refreshed styling and potentially new engine options from the D-Max will help revitalise the only commercial vehicle the brand offers.
The three Mazda spearheads will be supported by a solid range, with Australia the only country in the world to offer all four CX large rear-drive SUVs, with the CX-70 and CX-80 joining the CX-60 and CX-90 in 2024.
The CX-60 will be updated with a further suspension re-tune – having had one already – to suit local roads as part of an update due in mid-2025.
Then of course there's the iconic – genuinely iconic – Mazda MX-5 sports car, a pin-up for the brand's image, which managed to increase sales by 5.4 per cent year-on-year by the end of November 2024 despite the current ND generation dating back to 2015.
The post How Mazda Australia could be set for bumper sales in 2025 appeared first on Drive.
