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Mazda is cutting back on its fleet business in rental and Motability, despite recording a 22.8% drop in corporate sales volumes in 2011.
UK managing director Jeremy Thompson told BusinessCar: "[Market] share is a vanity thing. The most important thing is to do a volume that is profitable for that business.
"Chasing share has no interest to me. I could do a deal for 10,000 cars tomorrow but it wouldn't be right for the business. Rental absolutely has a value but we all recognise that it's a high-cost channel, and when resources are limited it pays to focus on core fleet customers.
"For some manufacturers, share is absolutely key but not so much for us. If we go from a 3% market share to 2.9% then it doesn't matter. What's important is to ensure that what we're doing is profitable for the business."
He went on to say that the company's core fleet business - i.e. sales to user choosers - was consistent, which is what the firm intends to concentrate on for the foreseeable future: "The underlying fleet business has remained stable. When you're looking at the financials, Motability and rental is the most expensive business to do.
"I think we'll grow the business substantially because of the new cars."
His comments follow a restructure of the company's UK arm, which saw former fleet boss Steve Jelliss move to head-up market support in Ireland, which Thompson said was to aid the struggling Irish market. National fleet sales manager Steve Thompson now runs the corporate business.
Thompson believes that Mazda's new generation of efficient Skyactiv petrol and diesel engines will serve to strengthen its fleet sales in the UK. They will first appear on the all-new CX-5 small 4x4, which goes on sale this month.
He also stated that the new breed of engines will make their way into other models across the range as and when they are updated and that the company's flagship fleet car, the Mazda 6, will reach 105g/km or less when it is revealed in Skyactiv form: "As we launch new models, every single model will have Skyactiv from now on. Our aspiration for the future Mazda 6 will be sub-105g/km. This will certainly be here by 2013."
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