Mazda gears up for 'Asean Era'

Thailand is expected to be in auto-maker's top five markets

Thailand is one of the major automobile production and export centres in the world, but the developments within the domestic market signal the emergence of smaller brands that are winning market share through appealing products and aggressive marketing drives.

Japanese auto-maker Mazda has been the fastest-growing car brand since the launch of the Mazda2, and after over a year sales are still growing. In fact Mazda sells more vehicles in Thailand than Europe.

Mazda considers Thailand as an important market and production centre in this region, said Masahiro Moro, executive officer in charge of global marketing of Mazda Motor Corporation.

Moro was in Thailand for the official launch of the all-new Mazda BT-50 PRO pickup truck.

"Today, the global situation is changing all the time whether it is natural disasters or global economy. This can cause unexpected events, such as the economic crisis in the US and Europe. Even China is predicted to experience an economic slowdown in the future," he said.

"When certain countries become weaker, some become stronger. The Asean region is considered a market with high growth potential, and we can see this from the increasing investment by automotive groups and companies. Mazda see that the 'Asean Era' is about to arrive," Moro said, adding that last year Thailand was Mazda's sixth-largest market in the world.

Mazda's largest markets in 2011 were the US, China, Japan, Australia, Canada and Thailand. But in terms of market share, Thailand ranks third with over 5 per cent, a dramatic rise over the last several years due to introduction of the highly popular Mazda2 subcompact.

Moro said Mazda's growth reflects the importance of Thailand both as a single market and a major production and export base in the Asean region.

Back in 2010, Mazda announced the "Building Block" business plan, which included a goal of winning a 5-per-cent market share in Thailand within 2013. However, the success of the Mazda2 enabled the company to achieve that goal last year, two years ahead of schedule.

"Recently Mazda has set a new sales target for Thailand, and we plan to sell 60,000 vehicles here this year for a 6-per-cent market share, which is expected to rise to 7 per cent in 2013. This growth will accompany our Asean regional growth, and Thailand could become Mazda's top-5 market in the world," he said.

Last year, Mazda sole 70,000 vehicles in Canana, it's fifth-largest market, while sales in Thailand reached 42,000 units.

However, Canada is a much larger market with a yearly total of approximately 1.5 million units, compared to 700,000 units for Thailand last year. But with the Thai market expected to show a strong rebound and tap the 1-million-unit mark this year, there are chances that Mazda could enjoy another year of strong sales growth.

Moro said the launch of the new BT-50 is a strategic move for Mazda in penetrating not only the Thai but the whole Asean market.

"Mazda concentrated on creating a difference and reaching out towards new customer groups by responding to the behaviour of customers who admire stylish design and want a pickup that offers the same feeling as a passenger car, but still want to maintain all the pickup capability. This is a gap in the market that Mazda has discovered and we think no other manufacturer has a clear sales objective like us," he said.

The upcoming launch of the new Mazda3 1.6-litre, after the 2.0-litre version had been introduced last year, will also contribute to attracting another group of new buyers.

"This will help Mazda expand the market and grow in the future. However, we may not have enough products to ensure a solid growth, and in the future we need to have more products," he said.

According to Moro, the models to be chosen for the Thai market depends on market requirements, business worthiness, government policy as well as investment for personnel and dealer network for the future.

"Actually, we want the Thai government to look at the technology side. In the past, Mazda had carried out a research on E85 and EV [electric vehicle], and we had a fleet of 100 Mazda2 EVs and leased them to the Japanese government. Walso tested them continuously for a year. Then an interesting topic for internal combustion engines turned up. We found out that 70 per cent of the fuel burned inside internal combustion engines are wasted, and the same thing happens in hybrid vehicles as they still need to run on petrol. If we really wanted to reduce fuel consumption, it doesn't mean that the automotive world must rely on alternative fuel. What Mazda tried to do was to produce engines that lower energy loss by just 40-50 per cent along with lower carbon dioxide emissions," he said.

According to Moro, if the Thai government continues the present auto tax structure, Mazda will go ahead with its E85 project, although it is also interested in CNG.

"Mazda is studying possibilities in designing the gas tank in order to save as much gas in the smallest space as possible. It has to be safe and convenient, and if the project goes through, we will start with the pickup market first and then follow with the passenger car market," he said.

According to an industry source, although Mazda has not made any announcements of its investment plans in Thailand in preparation for sales growth in the Asean region within the next three years, it has no other choice but to expand investment in the region, using Thailand as the manufacturing and export hub.

"Mazda's present capacity will soon fall short of the demand and it will need to expand production," he said.