http://www.iht.com/getina/files/305014.html


Mazda pushes cars off the lot to beat Hyundai in '05 sales
Haaretz Israel | By Assaf Bar-Shai

Tel Aviv, Israel

Mazda importer Delek Motors put the pedal to the metal in late 2005, striving not to lose the pole position in vehicle delivery to Korean rival Hyundai. According to automobile sector players, in the last months of the year, Delek Motors agreed with a number of leasing companies that it would "advance" hundreds of cars the leasing companies planned to buy in 2006. According to the sources, the arrangement was slated to help Mazda continue to lead the local market with the largest number of vehicles sold in 2005.

According to sources, Delek delivered the cars to the leasing companies and the cars were registered to the agencies. The Mazda importer even rented car lots to store the vehicles until the leasing companies needed them and had space in their own lots for the cars.

Mazda has been the best-selling car in Israel for 10 years. However, its lead over the pack has eroded in recent years. In vehicle fleets, the Japanese car giant has faced stiff competition in the domestic market from importers of Korean models, particularly Hyundai as well as Chevrolet's Korean division. In sales to households, Japanese Toyota strengthened its hold on the market, posting a 20 percent leap in sales over the past year.

At the beginning of the year, it looked like Hyundai was ousting Mazda from the top slot in car deliveries. Despite a strong May start for Mazda's 2006 models, Hyundai-importer Colmobil seemed to keep up the pace through August. However, since September, Mazda has left Hyundai in the dust, ending the year with 1,200 more cars delivered than its rival.

In response to this report, Delek Motors CEO Gil Agmon told Haaretz that he does not deal with gossip. He said Delek Motors has not changed its sales policy to leasing companies since May 1, and they have not received special terms in order to accept early deliveries.

Every leasing company that took deliveries through December accepted exactly the vehicles they had undertaken to accept, Agmon said. If his entire purpose was to end the year ahead of Hyundai in sales, he could have waived delivery of 1,200 vehicles sold in December, he added.
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I can see that consider Mazda as a smaller scale than Hyundai and Hyundai makes cheap looking cars that drives cheaply and are basically warranty on wheels, it's hard to beat in normal consumers eyes. Mazdas on the other hand would appeal to people who wants someone more than a refrigerator on wheels.

 

Economies are different the world over. In many countries Hyndai is considered an equal if not better competitor to Japanese cars,