Mazda planning 'aggressive' dealer shakeup

Tue, 17 Dec 2013

Mazda has set an ambitious goal of selling 400,000 units by the end of the 2015 Japanese fiscal year in March 2016, and to do that, it's going to need to take some aggressive action. That means that underperforming members of its 637-showroom strong dealer network are about to get the axe.

The purge won't just be limited to dealers that aren't performing, though. Mazda will seek to consolidate poorly located dealers and build new showrooms in better locations. It still isn't clear how many dealers are being targeted or at what point Mazda would end its cull.

This consolidation of dealers is all part of a one-two punch for the Japanese brand, that will also see increased marketing efforts in 35 key areas. Of those markets, Mazda is placing a special emphasis on New York and LA, although there's not much mention of what other regions are being looked at.

The shuffling of dealers is being called "aggressive" by Akira Marumoto, Mazda's North American executive vice president. "I believe we can achieve our goal. Our initiatives are bearing fruit," Marumoto told Automotive News at last month's Tokyo Motor Show.

As we mentioned in a previous story, Mazda's 400,000-unit goal is going to be done largely on the back of the Mazda3, which is still being rolled out.

By Brandon Turkus