Mazda will reposition itself as a more premium brand, Mazda Motor Corp. CEO Takashi Yamanouchi was quoted at a press interview at the launch of the all new Mazda6. Yamanouchi wants to boost sales in Mazda’s biggest, most important market by 43 percent to more than 400,000 U.S. units by the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2016. To get to that record level, Mazda will launch a flood of products over the next few years using an upscale brand image. Internally, Mazda is calling its brand shift “Japan premium.” That term will not be used in marketing.
But the strategy is to leverage Mazda’s new technologies and styling to lift the company above its Japanese rivals and other mass-market brands. Some Mazda insiders see the move as the only way Mazda a tiny, financially strapped brand with global sales of just 1.3 million units can survive. The third-generation Mazda6 mid-sized sedan, which hits U.S. showrooms in January, will lead the upswing in sales and brand identity. At the car’s launch in Japan two weeks ago, Hirotaka Kanazawa, Mazda’s global r&d chief, used the term “Japan premium” for its brand positioning, comparing it with German luxury marques.
Mazda’s products, exemplified by the redesigned Mazda6, will be packed with cutting-edge environmental and safety technologies and upscale interior materials. The company’s new lineup of Skyactiv technologies will underpin the shift. They encompass a range of chassis, platform and drivetrain systems that save fuel and boost performance. The Mazda CX-5 compact crossover, which was launched in the United States in the spring, was the first vehicle completely remade using the Skyactiv blueprint. Next comes the Mazda6. By 2016, 80 percent of Mazda’s lineup will employ the suite of Skyactiv features.
