SALES of Mazda cars soared by 69.7 per cent in Western Europe in January. This was against a seven per cent drop in the market according to the latest provisional figures from ACEA, the European automobile constructors’ association.

Total sales for the month were 16,922, up from 9,973 in January 2002. This impressive performance gave Mazda a 1.4 per cent share of the European market and put the company in third place among Japanese brands, behind Toyota and Nissan, but ahead of Honda and Mitsubushi.

The encouraging start to the year was achieved despite the overall market being down seven per cent in January 1,189,533 units. The success builds on the achievements of 2002 when Mazda posted a 13.3 per cent increase, registering sales of 157,934, up from 139,393 in 2001. This placed Mazda fourth in the Japanese car makers’ league behind Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

This gave Mazda, riding high on the back of the launch of the Mazda6, an overall 1.1 per cent market share, up from 0.9 per cent in 2001. The European market was down 2.9 per cent in 2002 at 14,390,163 units. In 2001, European sales topped 14.8 million.

By early summer, the long-awaited RX-8 arrives, with UK prices starting from £19,995, followed by the all-new C segment car due to the end of 2003.