Mazda 3 should top sales charts

Price cuts of up to $2500 and a midlife makeover should see the Mazda 3 end the Holden Commodore's 15-year reign as Australia's favourite car.

Mazda Australia managing director Doug Dickson launched the revised range last week and, while happy to acknowledge the Mazda3 is better value, rejects suggestions the "Zoom Zoom" company wants to zoom to the top of the charts.

Dickson also points out that a major fleet deal will push the Commodore back to the front in terms of sales, but won't necessarily add much to the bottom line, which is part of the reason Mazda won't chase the title.

"It is honestly not that important to us," he says. "If it happens, great, but if we are (the best-selling car) it won't be because we chased it. We don't want volume for the sake of it, that's not how you grow a business."

"Our main thrust is to be the car buyer of choice for the private buyer and the business buyer who behaves like a private buyer. If in doing so, one of our cars becomes top seller, so be it, but that's not the main game."

August sales figures show the Mazda3 heads the Commodore by about 500 units, with both selling more than 28,000 vehicles to date this year. The Mazda3 is already the most popular car with private buyers and accounts for a third of the company's Australian sales, which will be close to 87,000 vehicles this year.

Dickson expects the final three months of the year to be a sales war as companies such as Toyota look to recoup sales they lost when the tsunami limited car production in Japan.

"There will be a lot of deals out there before the end of the year but we're comfortable with where the Mazda3 sits."

Part of the reason is the refreshed range has more gear and lower prices, with the base Neo now starting at $20,330. The star of the new Mazda3 line-up is the Skyactiv engine and transmission fitted to the SP20 model.

Despite having the same 2.0-litre capacity as the conventional engine in the Mazda3 Neo and Sport Maxx, the SP20 uses 25 per cent less fuel yet still cranks out marginally more power and torque.

Even so, Mazda expects the Skyactiv will only account for about 15 per cent of Mazda3 sales.