Mazda South Africa officially relaunch, new dealer and service network

Mazda today announced the commencement of its operations as a new national sales and service company in South Africa. Basically that means they're now independent from Ford, a relationship that ended in the latter half of last year.

The new Midrand based head office comprises of an 8800sqm warehouse and 4000sqm office and training centre, complete with PC infrastructure and warehouse racking. To date, Mazda South Africa (MSA) employs 36 office staff and 23 warehouse staff.

With extensive experience from Mazda Australia, David Hughes leads the MSA operation as Managing Director. He is supported by 4 business unit executive heads – Doreen Mashinini, Head of Marketing and Communications; Craig Roberts, Head of Sales; Trevor Ward, Head of Customer Service; Keith Scholtz, Head of Finance and Corporate Affairs.

A full sales and service dealer network of 52 dealers has been identified to cover South Africa as well as Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Of which 47 are ready to sell you a new Mazda.

The dealer network is balanced with independents, large listed and smaller unlisted groups.

"It will take some time to rebuild the brand and restore Mazda resale values. We need to form strong relationships with our dealers, suppliers and ultimately our customers. To do this, we need to treat our dealers like true business partners, be transparent, up front, open and honest in everything we do." says David Hughes, MD MSA

To ensure that customers are taken care of after purchasing their Mazda; MSA is also introducing MazdaCare. For passenger vehicles; the MazdaCare offers a 3-year unlimited kilometre factory warranty, a 3-year unlimited kilometre roadside assistance, a 3-year unlimited kilometre service plan and a 5-year unlimited kilometre corrosion warranty for peace of mind motoring.

On the more commercial side MazdaCare offers a 4-year/120 000km factory warranty, a 3-year unlimited kilometre roadside assistance, a 3-year/90 000km service plan and a 5-year unlimited kilometre corrosion warranty.

"Our mission is to become the brand of choice for the private buyer and the business buyer that behaves like a private buyer. Defying convention isn't just a brand motto, it's who we are. How apt when considering that South Africa took what was once deemed impossible and turned it into a democratic reality; we are inspired by this. Today we have a head office, a work force, dealers and a fully operational business. Now we embark on a journey to make Mazda the most loved and sold car in the country," concludes Hughes.

Models available:

Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda5, Mazda6, Mazda CX-5, Mazda MX-5 and Mazda BT-50