Mazda may avoid 2008 US sales decline

Mazda Motor Corp has a good chance of avoiding a decline in its US sales this year despite a sharp downturn in the market, James O'Sullivan, who heads Mazda's North American operations, said on July 23.
"For this year, we could be about even with a year ago in a down industry if we get a good availability of our pipeline of more Mazda3 and Mazda5," O'Sullivan told Reuters on the sidelines of an event marking the production launch of the redesigned Mazda6. Mazda sold 296,110 vehicles in the United States in 2007, up 10.2 percent from 2006.
In the first half of this year, Mazda sold 152,684 vehicles in the United States, up 0.3 percent from a year earlier, as a rapid consumer shift from trucks to cars boosted demand for its fuel-efficient small and mid-size cars. The overall US market dropped more than 10 percent in the first half.
O'Sullivan said he expects US auto sales to drop to south of 15 million vehicles this year, down from 16.15 million units last year, amid the US economic downturn and record gasoline prices.
He said Mazda would likely post lower sales for July versus a year earlier, as the inventory of the current Mazda6 mid-size cars is "very low" ahead of the new model launch in late August. But sales should improve in the months ahead as the automaker ramps up production of the car at its joint venture plant with Ford Motor Co in Flat Rock, Michigan, he said.
"If we have better availability, we will have better sales," O'Sullivan said.
"It's a perfect timing for the launch. We're seeing people moving from all other segments to small and mid-size cars." Mazda6, which competes in the mid-size segment dominated by Toyota Motor Corp's Camry and Honda Motor Co's Accord, is the only car built in the United States for the automaker. All Mazda3 and Mazda5 cars sold in the US market are imported from Japan.
Separately, Hisakazu Imaki, president of Mazda Motor Corp, told Reuters the automaker's partnership with Ford would remain strong because the carmakers run several joint venture plants in the United States. Ford owns one-third of Mazda.
"The relationship between Ford and Mazda is basically not going to change," Imaki said, when asked about how Ford Motor's recent series of asset sales, such as Jaguar and Land Rover, would affect the partnership with Mazda.