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• Retail sales of 342,800 units the highest calendar year volume ever
• Six individual countries set all-time records
• 20 countries achieve sales increases
Leverkusen, 12 January 2009. Despite difficult market conditions during the last two months of 2008, Mazda Motor Europe’s retail sales for the year stood at 342,800 units. This is the highest calendar year volume ever in Europe, and up 9.3 percent compared to 2007.
The Mazda brand also achieved an estimated passenger car market share of 1.9 percent in 2008 in Europe, which is up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.
Strong gains in Mazda sales during the first 10 months helped the brand achieve year-on-year increases in 20 individual markets in 2008 (see table below for details), among them six that set all-time records. In Russia, Mazda recorded its highest calendar year retail volume ever, with 73,700 units, up 47 percent versus 2007. Portugal saw Mazda sales reach record levels in 2008 as well – at 5,100 units, an increase of 2 percent. Mazda also achieved all-time calendar year records for retail volume in Hungary, with 3,600 vehicles, up 29 percent, in Croatia, with 3,100 units, up 17 percent, in Slovenia, with 1,600 units, up 50 percent and in Belarus with 1,500 units, which is up 138 percent compared to 2007.
“We are satisfied with these positive results, particularly in the context of a difficult trading year. A combination of our professional dealer network and the strongest Mazda line-up ever has helped deliver our highest calendar year volume,” said Philip Waring, newly appointed European Chief Operating Officer (COO) with responsibility for sales and marketing. “These last two months were a challenge, and the current economic downturn makes predictions difficult. But following our success in CY2008 we can move into 2009 with a guarded degree of optimism.”
Top Performing Markets in Calendar Year (CY) 2008
Country Mazda Retail Sales
CY 2008 vs. CY 2007 Highlights
Russia 73,700 +47% All-time CY record for volume
Italy 19,000 +10%
Austria 18,500 +12%
Greece 9,000 +24% 3rd highest CY volume ever
Ukraine 8,700 +25%
Switzerland 8,600 +23%
Denmark 8,300 +24%
The Netherlands 8,300 +8%
Mazda BELUX
(Belgium + Luxembourg) 6,700 +53%
Portugal 5,100 +2% All-time CY record for volume
Czech Republic 4,500 +56% 3rd highest CY volume ever
Ireland 4,500 +5%
Norway 3,900 +18%
Hungary 3,600 +29% All-time CY record for volume
Croatia 3,100 +17% All-time CY record for volume
Slovenia 1,600 +50% All-time CY record for volume
Belarus 1,500 +138% All-time CY record for volume
Morocco 900 +78%
Turkey 870 +99%
Mooi stukje tekst gevonden over het nieuwe Start-stop systeem van Mazda
Mazda pioneer in starter technology
Oct 27, 2007
Gerry Malloy
The introduction of the electric self-starter on the 1912 Cadillac was a turning point in automotive history. It circumvented the need to hand-crank the internal combustion engine to start it, thus eliminating perhaps its biggest drawback and paving the way for it to become the dominant automotive powerplant for the rest of the century – and beyond.
Ironically, a new technology developed by Mazda and revealed this week at its Hiroshima engineering centre, in advance of the Tokyo Motor Show, is almost a direct reversal of that achievement.
It makes use of the characteristic that made hand-cranking engines so dangerous, to eliminate the need for a high-powered starter motor.
And while its impact is unlikely to be as dramatic as the original self-starter, it could prove to be highly significant.
The technology is called SISS, for Smart Idle Stop System – the ISS referring to a vehicle's ability to automatically shut off its engine when it stops moving, and instantly restart it when the brake is released or the accelerator pressed.
Stop-start technology has been previously discussed in this column, noting that it plays a major role in the fuel savings realized by most hybrid vehicles. But one of the limitations of the system is that it requires a high-powered electric motor and battery pack to provide instant restarts, thus effectively limiting the technology to hybrids.
At least that was the case until now.
Mazda's SISS system has no such need. Which is why the first S in its acronym stands for "smart."
Its operation makes use of the engine characteristic that old-timers called "kickback." If you didn't time the release of the hand crank just right, the engine could kick it back and, in an instant, break your arm.
With SISS, when an engine is shut down, electronic controls ensure that it stops with all four pistons, of a four-cylinder engine, lined up exactly half way between top- and bottom-dead centre.
When the signal to automatically restart is received, a squirt of fuel is injected into one cylinder, via Mazda's DISI direct-injection system, and its spark plug is fired, causing ignition in that cylinder alone that pushes its piston down, rotating the engine slightly backward.
At that point, as other pistons are pushed up into compression, the normal fuel-injection and ignition systems take over, igniting the mixture in those cylinders and starting the engine in the forward direction – without the aid of any electric starter.
Not only that, the system restarts the engine in less time than it takes with an electric starter, according to Mazda, thus making its operation even more seamless – a point subjectively verified by a demonstration drive.
According to tests conducted to Japan's emissions/fuel-consumption testing procedure, SISS reduces consumption by approximately 10 per cent, Mazda says, with virtually no extra cost in hardware, and no additional weight for beefed up starter motors or batteries.
And it opens the door to applying automatic start-stop systems to non-hybrid vehicles, which has huge potential for benefit.
With automakers scrambling to make tenths-of-a per cent reductions in fuel consumption, the prospects of making a 10 per cent reduction almost for free qualifies as a major breakthrough.
Mazda has not yet announced production plans for the system, but given its potential impact, and the fact the company is making the technology public, it is almost certainly destined for near-term introduction.
It is equally likely that other manufacturers will follow suit with similar technology, if not a licenced version of Mazda's system.
Prachtige auto.
Bij het rooster dacht ik ook eerst: "Oei"
Maar na een tweede en zeker na een derde blik staat het me eigenlijk wel aan.
Het lijkt nu alsof de motorkap echt blijft doorlopen en geeft hem, mijn aanziens, een nog agressievere blik.
idd er zijn iets teveel rasters om het mooi te maken in mijn ogen. en de velgen passen ook niet meer bij het huidige model. ze ogen zo plat, tegenover de bolle vormen van de nieuwe 6. mooie zwarte velg eronder en hij is perfect. zonde dat hij zolang na de mondeo uitgekomen is, ik zou het serieus moeilik gehad hebben.
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