brand relaunch
| by Howard Keeg
Mazda Makes its Comeback
As an owner of a Mazda, and a fan since the 1970’s, I have watched
with a mixture of sadness and wonderment the demise of the Mazda
brand in South Africa these past couple of years. Sad because it was not
really necessary to relegate this brand to stepchild status, and wonder
because such an iconic brand does not deserve this treatment.
B
ut the good news is that Mazda
is making its comeback. On 1
October 2014 the doors at the
brand spanking new headquarters of
Mazda Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd will swing
open, revealing 8 800m² of warehouse
space, and 4 000m² of training and office
facilities. The official address is
4 Travertine Avenue, N1
Business Park, Midrand,
and waiting to assist you
will be 30 warehouse
staff and 44 office staff,
led by managing director
David Hughes, and an
executive management
team consisting of
Doreen Mashinini,
marketing and
communications;
Craig Roberts,
sales; Trevor Ward,
customer services; and
Keith Scholtz, finance.
David Hughes, a
Mazda veteran who as
national sales manager
at Mazda Australia
took Mazda to over
10% market share
in the competitive
Australian market, said
at the media launch
on 18 September
that his first point of
business will be to
regain dealer loyalty;
because once you’ve
got dealer loyalty
you’ve got customer
loyalty. This will be
the platform on which
to rebuild the Mazda
brand, and to uphold
and to reinforce resale
value. He also wants to
transform Mazda from
a conventional price/value driven player to
a legitimate alternative to the established
premium brands. This is very important
because a funnel analysis of brand health
indicates serious slippage these past few
years.
➲ David Hughes is looking to up the ante
with the Mazda brand, and he foresees his
biggest problem in the future being supply
levels. Mazda currently has production capacity
of 1,3 million vehicles per annum, whilst
global demand stands at 1,7 million
vehicles per annum
For the next six months and beyond,
Hughes and his team will focus on
launching new product, and changing the
way South Africans feel about Mazda.
The sweet spot will be the 6 to 8 LSM
market, and the ethos will be “to make the
impossible possible.”
The “impossible” is in the Mazda heritage.
As Hughes says in his press release,
“Mazda rose from the ashes of Hiroshima
and helped rebuild a city. We’ve perfected
the rotary engine. We’ve created the
record beating MX5. Our iconic Mazda
323 became South Africa’s top-selling
car. Mazda has a history of making the
impossible possible.”
He accepts that he has a daunting task
ahead, but he is upbeat, saying that
I have every confidence
that it can and will be done.
Because we aren’t just any car
brand. We are Mazda.
With an estimated 70 000 Mazdas
➲ Three new Mazda vehicles will be launched in October.
The new Mazda3, the latest Mazda6, and the new CX-5 model.
The Mazda3 kicks off at R232 900 for the 1,6 Original and peaks at
R326 300 for the full-house two-litre Astina. The Mazda6 will set you
back R342 000 for the two litre Active Manual, and tops out at
R430 500 for the high-spec 2, 2 litre DE Atenza Auto. At R316 600
the CX-5 two-litre manual is competitively priced, while the new
all-wheel-drive 2, 5 DE Akera sells for R456 100
| words in action
60
october 2014
on the road in South Africa, the
outgoing dealers will continue to
handle warranty, parts and service
issues while the 50-odd new
dedicated Mazda dealerships get
into their stride.