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Mazda heading for third straight record fiscal year

Mazda Motor Corporation's business continued to expand through the third quarter of the fiscal year ending on 31 March. The Japan-based carmaker increased global revenue for the first nine months by 16% year-on-year to ¥2.55 trillion (€19.0 billion), while the operating profit grew 14% to ¥173 billion (€1.29 billion). Net income came in at ¥124 billion (€922 million)*.

Vehicle sales rose by 14% during the period to 1,145,000 units - a new record for Mazda after three quarters. Leading the way again, Europe achieved a 27% increase compared to the previous year to 163,000 units, outpacing the market by a wide margin as the all-new Mazda CX-3 and new-generation Mazda2 drove growth. Elsewhere, car sales were up 15% in a shrinking Japanese market, 14% in China and 8% in North America. Australia and the ASEAN region, meanwhile, recorded growth of 18% and 34%, respectively.

Besides the popularity of Mazda's new-generation model line-up, which added the CX-3, a B-SUV, and the all-new Mazda MX-5 roadster to its ranks during the current fiscal year, the company's success is also attributable to ongoing structural reforms. After expanding its global manufacturing footprint, Mazda has enhanced utilisation rates at its production facilities in Japan and around the world to support steadily increasing demand. Global alliances and customer care initiatives have also helped improve financial strength and sustainability.

The highly acclaimed model generation based on SKYACTIV Technology and featuring award-winning KODO - Soul of Motion designs now make up more than 85% of new Mazda vehicles sold. Recent high-profile awards include Japan Car of the Year 2015-16 and the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame's 2015-2016 Car of the Year for the new MX-5. The company also recorded the highest fleet average fuel economy of any volume carmaker in the U.S. for the third consecutive year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Light Duty Fuel Economy Trends report from December.

Mazda's forecast remains unchanged. The carmaker will carefully monitor the impact to automobile demand in light of recent changes to the economic environment in various major markets. Mazda is on track to post its third record operating profit in as many years, confirming its full-year forecast of ¥230 billion (€1.70 billion), up 9.5%, on ¥3.37 trillion (€25.0 billion) in revenue and net income of ¥155 billion (€1.15 billion).