Mazda BT-50, CX-8 and MX-30 stock levels healthy, but wait times persist for Mazda 3 and CX-30 SUV

Mazda is hoping for another bumper sales year in 2021 but tight stock supply may spoil the party.

Though it has said the early months of the year had been tight because of problems getting production levels back to normal as the effects of COVID-19 continue and the semi-conductor issue remains, it has produced a strong result in May.

Models such as the Mazda3 and CX-30 have waiting times of up to three months – and sometimes more depending on the variant ordered – though supplies of the BT-50 ute are coming back to full strength.

Mazda’s total sales were up 86.4 percent in May compared to the same month last year, while after five months of trading in 2021, the brand is up 63.9 per cent year-on-year.

Much of the increase is on deliveries of cars ordered previously, but the brand said the stock position was “looking good” for June.

Mazda posted an update late last month that put a more optimistic delivery schedule on its MX-30, CX-8 and CX-3.

It said stock of these three were all back up to 2020 levels and that dealers have availability for most on their showroom floors.

It also means the BT-50 is also now in plentiful supply in time for the end-of-financial-year sales and to be eligible for the government’s instant tax write-off on assets.

The models that are tight continue to be the evergreen Mazda3 and the upmarket CX-30 SUV.

The Mazda3 and BT-50 4x2 were the only nameplates that performed worse in May 2021 compared with May 2020, down 2.0 and 17.1 per cent respectively, though year-to-date the former is up 18.9 per cent.

The Mazda3 and the CX-30 will have a minor model upgrade in the second half of this year with hopes this may give sales an extra kick.

Although victim to the chip shortage, some models delivered exceptional results in May, mostly as cars were delivered to customers after a delay.

The stand-outs for Mazda so far this year include the CX-8 (+213.2%), CX-5 (+59.6%), MX-5 (+100.6%) and Mazda2 (+65.3%) that are all enjoying sales growth in 2021.