By ZHANG Mingrui
Japanese automaker Mazda’s journey in China ahead is going to be a bumpy one. Only 32,000 Mazda were sold in H1, down 50 percent year on year.
New strategy needed
CEO Masahiro Moro said the fierce competition in the Chinese EV market meant even harsher conditions to come. In the next 18 months, operations in China will become increasingly challenging with declining production and sales, dragging profits down with them.
Mazda needs to come up with a new strategy in China, Moro said.
Six-year slump
Lagging behind in electrical transformation, Japanese automakers are becoming less competitive every day in China. Mitsubishi has halted production, and Mazda is performing worst among the Japanese automakers still clinging on.
In June, the sales were just 7,400 vehicles. In 2022, Mazda's average monthly sales were only 9,000, down 41 percent from 2021 and it is highly likely that sales will continue downhill through 2023, marking the sixth consecutive year of falling sales.
Since FAW Mazda collapsed in 2021, Mazda's channel in the Chinese market has been Changan Mazda with a low-key sales network.
Mazda going nowhere
However, unlike Mitsubishi, Mazda has no plan to leave China. The CEO firmly stated that Mazda will not quit China on his first day in office in June. Moro said that Mazda will take the fight to the EV market, and there are no plans to downsize.
Mazda aims to have a new SUV in the showrooms by March 2024, but the chances of turning the tide by launching a new car into the most competitive market segment are slim.
