Mazda North America's New CEO Sees Crossovers As A Way To Increase Loyality and Profit

Mazda's North American office will be getting a new CEO early next year, and he believes that crossovers will bring good things to the brand.

Masahiro Moro, currently Mazda's global sales and marketing executive and soon to be the CEO of Mazda' North American office in January told Automotive News that to build up customer loyalty and profits for the brand, they would need to increase sales of their crossovers.

Currently, Mazda relies heavily on the Mazda3 for sales in North America. While popular, margins on the were very tight. Also, customers who bought the 3 tended to go to other makes when getting a new vehicle.

"Loyalty is very low historically. With the new-generation product, our focus is how we can treat customers better and keep them loyal," said Moro.

By putting more focus on crossovers, Moro explained that it would reduce the reliance on the 3 for sales. It also allows for more profit as crossover buyers tend to go heavy on the options and are likely to return to Mazda to buy another vehicle.

"Our opportunity here is to recapture those customers or gain new customers through the crossover vehicles," said Moro.

"In light of this, I wish that more than 50 percent of our total [u.S.] sales in two or three years be crossovers."

Currently, Mazda has moved 121,622 crossovers through November. That represents 42 percent of total sales in the U.S. of 289,889.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)