‘The power of having someone drive one of our cars, whether it’s fleet or retail and talk about our brand to other people is really important’ – Jeremy Thomson, Mazda MD

MAZDA have been through a busy time refreshing and releasing new models recently. The face-lifted Mazda3 is latest in the set and we caught up with managing director Jeremy Thomson to find out why the 2017-model year car will attract the SME market and how they’re making Mazda more appealing to SMEs. Click here to read our review of the new Mazda3.

• Is the Mazda3 more of retail proposition than fleet car?

“I think it deserves more in the corporate sector, but I think the reason is, the Mazda3 has been more traditionally a retail car. Plus, the strength of our dealers, then there’s the size of the C-Segment within the retail sector and the historic success of the Mazda3 to retail customers.

“In my opinion, it’s a model that deserves more from the corporate sector, although that’s probably down to no more than awareness issues. This is despite being a car that obviously ticks all the boxes for the fleet/company car driver and the fleet manager.

“We just need to get more into corporate fleets, where I think having one or two will suddenly result in an explosion of the car within the user-choosers. None and it’s very difficult to get a foothold. That’s down to us and our dealer network to do a better job in getting the car to corporates.

“Plus, it’s going to be competing against some commendable competitors and it needs to differentiate itself from those. Typically when Mazda is successful, it is with fleet company car drivers that want to drive something that’s a little different. So it’s not the conventional fleet choice and I think Mazda has always offered that.

“With Mazda6 we’re very effective in doing that, Mazda3, it’s a little less so historically, but this car builds on very successful foundations and is that much more attractive to corporate customers.”

• What Mazda3 model do you see as the natural choice for corporate SME customers?

 “Traditionally manufacturers tend to suggest that within fleet, it’s their mid-series that tends to be the most successful. I think that’s a little bit different for us. For the customers you’re suggesting, I think Mazda is already a choice, that’s not mainstream but not pure premium – instead it’s an interesting ground near premium – where perhaps you might find Volkswagen, Volvo and one or too other brands.

“I think Mazda is very lucky to be in that set, for a mass Japanese brand. Therefore, if you believe that, the Sport Nav trim with a phenomenal level of kit as standard, strong residuals, great range of engines and body styles – I think that’s going to be the car that most would choose.

“I think the Sport-Nav trim is what business people will go for. In fact, that’s one of the best-selling models in the range. Historically with Mazda3 it was probably the SEL-Nav version, so mid-grade with navigation. But I think that the Sport-Nav with this new 2017-model year, brings so much additional specification, for such a small price increment, that it’s the choice for fleet user-choosers and fleet managers.”

• Are you going to do anything different to get the 3 and the rest of the Mazda range out to the corporate market?

“There’s a pilot project we’ve started in central London, called Mazda MyWay and anyone can look at it by logging on to mazda.co.uk. If you live in London, then we use geo-targeting, to offer you a very different service – for the simple reason we don’t have any dealers in central London, in the inner north-circular, south circular region. Although we have dealers on the periphery of London, round the M25, but not in central London.

“This is interesting in so far as, today it is a pilot for what is purely a retail solution – as an alternative to no dealer representation. However, what we’ve learned in the year we’ve been doing it, is just how powerful it is to take cars, on behalf of the manufacturer, with manufacturer staff, who are paid full salary no commission to give you a brand experience.

‘We will take that car to your home seven days a week, between 7 and 11 at night and we will make it easy for you to experience our product.

“Whilst this is a retail project for now, I could see an extension of it in the future to include a much more flexible way of SME and fleet user-choosers experiencing our product.

“I accept that for the manufacturer typically, a fleet car might typically be a relatively low margin sale – but the power of having someone drive one of our cars, whether it’s fleet or retail and talk about our brand to other people is really important.

“So if I can get our product out to people, in unique and different ways, then I think that’s really key. I’d like to do it with the dealers, to build on the service that dealers provide – I don’t want it to be an alternative to them.

“I do believe strongly that we have to reach out to customers – they deserve that from manufacturers, after all it’s an expensive product and it’s not that much effort to engage with customers directly. Their terms, not ours.

“One of the things this retail project in London has shown us is how powerful a concept that is. How unexpected it is and I think a very, very different and unique offering. We’ve learnt a lot over the previous months, that we will integrate into our dealer network, to think how they engage with their customers.”

•  Do you think the new 3 gives Mazda a more complete SME/corporate offering than ever?

“If I think back when I started, as Mazda fleet director, back in 2001, shortly after I joined we introduced the Mazda6 and the 6 became the stalwart of the fleet sector. To tell you the truth we were a one-car brand and the Mazda6 was very successful, because it was a very differentiated choice compared to a Vauxhall Vectra, or Ford Mondeo.

“People liked the the fact it offered everything that mainstream models offered, but it stood out in the car park and it said something about you as an individual and why you chose it. It wasn’t pretending to be an Audi, or BMW – it wasn’t at the level.

“Today the Mazda6 has moved substantially, over a period of 10-15 years and our fleet offering is far broader. With Mazda3, plus CX-3 and CX-5, we have been really successful with fleet already – our SUV models are performing particularly strongly with fleet car buyers.

‘So now we have a range of cars suitable for fleet, rather than a single model and that’s crucial because it’s not ideal if you’re only known for a single model in your range.

“Mazda3 is now a very strong compliment to the Mazda6, in the conventional C/CD sector, but CX-3 and CX-5 also provide a very strong alternative to some mainstream cars as well.  The in-flow we’ve had from premium brands, BMW, Mercedes and Audi, is double on CX-5 than what it was on the previous generation.

“There’s something about that car that draws people out of traditional premium segments, because of the kind of cost to value that we offer and the fact it isn’t mainstream, but it’s got strong residuals, it’s distinctive, it’s not a step down from what they’re used to, it has very high specification and the combination of all that makes it an alternative to buying in the traditional premium sector. So that has been an interesting insight into where the brand could potentially go over time.

“When we launched the Mazda6, it was £1,000 lower than the Mondeo list price. Today typically, we are in-line with VW product across the range. So the brand in 15 years, has moved from value to being premium very quickly. Its attraction is comparable with the journey the Audi brand had been on, over their 30 years of recent history – moving quickly to the right-hand side of the sales chart.

“This is a real opportunity for us, it’s not to sell more, but to sell better. That means having the right balance of supply and demand, having strong specification, great looks, very competitive engines and great RVs.”