Australia's top selling car so far in 2015, the Mazda3 sedan and hatch, has been given an equipment boost and price cut aided by the five per cent tariff reduction delivered by the new Japan-Australia free trade agreement.
Prices fall as much as $1150 for the SP25 Astina, while the base model Neo is the only model to stay at its pre-update price, albeit with an equipment boost valued at $1200 courtesy of 16-inch alloy wheels (replacing steel) and rear parking sensors, the latter now standard across the rest of the range.
The only other equipment additions to Mazda's popular small car line are fog lights for the Maxx and Touring.
Mazda Australia managing director Martin Benders did have a bit to say about why the Neo still doesn't have a reversing camera, as we have reported separately.
The Neo manual continues to kick off the line-up at $20,490, while the XD Astina turbo-diesel six-speed auto remains at the top of the range at $41,290, lopping $940 from the price. The auto impost over the six-speed manual across the range remains $2000.
Other price reductions include $600 for the Maxx and Maxx Safety, $700 for the Touring, Touring Safety SP25 and SP25 Safety and $800 for the SP25 GT, SP25 GT Safety and SP25 GT Safety and Sunroof. A full pricing list is at the bottom of this story.
Mazda will accompany the 3 pricing and equipment with a new television campaign reminding buyers that the car is now into its third generation.
After finishing second narrowly on the Australian sales ladder in 2014 behind the Toyota Corolla, the latest 3 was on top of the pile in January. The second generation 3 was Australia's best-selling model in 2012 and 2011.
The strong result for 3 also helped propel Mazda into second in the overall sales charts in January ahead of Holden and behind Toyota, according to the official VFACTS figures.
However, Benders was playing down the prospects of 3 winning the 2015 sales race.
"While we missed out by 400 units [to Corolla in 2014], if you back out the rental and the government and the large fleet stuff, we smashed them [in private sales]," he said. "So with the real buyers we did really well.
"So am I going to do rental business or government business to beat Corolla? No."
Nor was he bullish on the prospects of holding off Holden.
"We always have a fast start because some of the fleets are out of the market. But [Holden] Commodore will come back in the later months. So we don't know if we will knock Holden off for the year, we don't have any fixed idea on that.
"What we do know is most of our product is fairly new or just had upgrades. So we should – [with] plusses or minuses – be able to hold our current portfolio at the level we had last year, so CX-3 becomes incremental for us."
Mazda has launched updates to the top-selling CX-5 SUV and mid-sized 6 sedan and wagon already in 2015 and follows with the all-new CX-3 small SUV in the second quarter. The facelifted BT-50 ute comes early in the second half and the fourth generation MX-5 arrives before the end of the year.
All that activity should add up to a new Australian sales record for the brand, topping the 103,886 total set in 2012.
Mazda3 price list | ||||
Manufacturer's List Price | Variant | 2015 | 2014 | Change +/- |
Sedan/hatch | ||||
2.0L Petrol | ||||
Neo | 6MT | $20,490 | $20,490 | $0 |
6AT | $22,490 | $22,490 | $0 | |
Neo Safety | 6MT | $21,990 | $21,990 | $0 |
6AT | $23,990 | $23,990 | $0 | |
Maxx | 6MT | $22,390 | $22,990 | -$600 |
6AT | $24,390 | $24,990 | -$600 | |
Maxx Safety | 6MT | $23,890 | $24,490 | -$600 |
6AT | $25,890 | $26,490 | -$600 | |
Touring | 6MT | $24,790 | $25,490 | -$700 |
6AT | $26,790 | $27,490 | -$700 | |
Touring Safety | 6MT | $26,290 | $26,990 | -$700 |
6AT | $28,290 | $28,990 | -$700 | |
2.5L Petrol | ||||
SP25 | 6MT | $25,190 | $25,890 | -$700 |
6AT | $27,190 | $27,890 | -$700 | |
SP25 Safety | 6MT | $26,690 | $27,390 | -$700 |
6AT | $28,690 | $29,390 | -$700 | |
SP25 GT | 6MT | $29,790 | $30,590 | -$800 |
6AT | $31,790 | $32,590 | -$800 | |
SP25 GT Safety | 6MT | $31,090 | $31,890 | -$800 |
6AT | $33,090 | $33,890 | -$800 | |
SP25 GT Safety and Sunroof | 6MT | $32,690 | $33,490 | -$800 |
6AT | $34,690 | $35,490 | -$800 | |
SP25 Astina | 6MT | $35,040 | $36,190 | -$1,150 |
6AT | $37,040 | $38,190 | -$1,150 | |
Hatch only | ||||
2.2L Diesel | ||||
XD Astina | 6AT | $39,290 | $40,230 | -$940 |
6AT | $41,290 | $42,230 | -$940 |
¹Safety pack for Neo, Maxx, Touring & SP25 includes Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Smart City Brake Support and a rear-view mirror with auto dimming function, the SP25 GT offers BSM, RCTA, SCBS and a sunroof