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Mazda is aiming to increase its status in the corporate car market by targeting established premium brands and gearing its dealers towards business customers.
UK?boss Jeremy Thompson told BusinessCar that the previous upper medium Mazda 6 had suffered due to poor emissions, but that the new model, currently pegged at a low of 108g/km with a 104g/km model due shortly, is strong enough to steal a small amount of sales from premium rivals such as the BMW 3-series and Audi A4.
"Within fleet, quite candidly, the less competitive CO2 [of the old 6] has been a problem. There is an appreciable saving for BIK on the top-spec 6. That might not be enough for someone to switch brand, but we're only hoping for 6% of the premium sector.
"There's a really healthy space between premium and the mass market that we think we can exploit."
Despite his aspirations, Thompson maintained that it was difficult to get through to user-choosers because of the timings of contracts: "It's harder to find the company car driver than the fleet manager because you need to get them at the right time - when they're switching contracts."
Commenting on the fleet tour in December, where Mazda visited business buyers across the country with the new 6, Thompson said that, other than some immediate uptake from small businesses, it was too early to report on the full results, but the reception had been positive.
Sales director Peter Allibon told BusinessCar that the dealer network was being groomed to better meet the needs of corporate customers and that fleets could expect more contact from the firm: "We'll structure our fleet programme for dealers to engage more with local businesses. If we do it right, they'll do the work for us.
"As long as they're geared up for the needs of the business buyer then they'll embrace the opportunities. You'll see an increase in dealers engaging with fleet."
He also said the lower medium 3 would be the next model to undergo a serious upgrade, which will include clean Skyactiv engines: "Take the new 6, make it smaller and add a bit more Shinari [Mazda's concept car-themed styling] to it - then you've got the new 3.
"You'll see it at the back end of the year. If we've got a 104g/km 6, God only knows what we'll get out of the 3."
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