The 324,600 units figure is, as said, the second-highest result ever, only 1.3 percent lower compared to last year's result. In addition, the Japanese automaker increased its share in the passenger car sector by 0.2 points to 2.0 percent.
Russia had a retail sales volume of 70,000 units, up 21 percent compared to the previous fiscal year while Switzerland brought an increase of 15 percent to 8,500 units. Ukraine came third with the highest fiscal year volume ever - 7,900 units and an increase of 7 percent. Nevertheless, the biggest improvement came in Belarus where Mazda registered an increase by 130 percent to 1,700 units.
Just as expected, Mazda's officials explain that this apparently-good figures were recorded despite the major downturn the automotive sector experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, sales in the first half of the year, which actually grew up for the majority of models designed by Mazda, helped the company achieve the second-highest fiscal year results ever.
“We saw rapidly deteriorating market conditions as the fiscal year progressed,” said Jeff Guyton, President and CEO of Mazda Motor Europe, “which presented some challenges in the fourth quarter. Looking forward, while it’s difficult at this time to project sales volumes for the new business year, we are confident that we can continue to build market share over the coming 12 months.”
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