Mazda Motor Corporation has announced sales and financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. In the period from April 2019 to March 2020, the Japanese car manufacturer sold around 1,419,000 vehicles worldwide. This corresponds to a decline of nine percent compared to the same period in the previous year.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the company’s vehicle sales in most regions. In Europe (including Russia), despite the outbreak of the coronavirus in the fourth quarter, the level of the previous financial year was maintained. 264,000 units sold represent a decrease of only two percent compared to the previous year, the market share remained stable at 1.4 percent. Germany remains the largest Mazda market in Europe with 64,000 units (minus five percent).
Mazda saw major declines in other regions: sales in Japan (202,000 vehicles sold) and North America (397,000 units) each fell six percent year-on-year, while in China sales fell 14 percent to 212,000 units.
“Mazda continues its success story in Europe, particularly with the two new Mazda3 and Mazda CX-30 models, which are already in the next generation of Mazda vehicles,” said Akira Marumoto, President of Mazda Motor Corporation. “Despite the current pandemic, Mazda Europe made a significant contribution to our business in the past fiscal year. We remain committed to the European market and our dealer network and look forward to Mazda’s first electric vehicle, the Mazda MX-30, which we will launch in Europe later this year.“
Against the background of increased investments in the development of new technologies and measures to improve profitability, Mazda Motor Corporation generated sales of 3.430 trillion yen (28.3 billion euros) in the past financial year. This results in an operating profit of 43.6 billion yen (360 million euros) and a net profit of 12.1 billion yen (100 million euros). An annual dividend of 35 yen per share will be paid to the shareholders.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on demand, supply chains and vehicle production cannot currently be reliably assessed. Mazda is therefore initially foregoing a profit forecast for the new fiscal year, which ends in March 2021. Mazda will continue to monitor the economic environment, assess the impact on the business and make the financial forecast at a later date.
