Demand triples size of Mazda6 corporate demonstrator fleet

Fleet manager and company car driver interest in the all-new emission-busting Mazda6 has led to a tripling of the manufacturer’s corporate demonstrator fleet. There are now a total of 225 Mazda6 vehicles on the manufacturer’s corporate demonstrator fleet with the marque having originally planned to have 75 vehicles.

The move, which follows a hugely successfully UK-wide Mazda6 VIP fleet tour at the end of last year, also means that fleet managers and company car drivers will be able to test drive the model for longer.

Typically corporate demonstrator fleet vehicles are loaned for up to three days, but following expansion of the fleet, cars could be loaned for up to seven days if required by the customer.

Additionally, the brand’s franchise dealer network have been given the opportunity to increase the number of all-new Mazda6 models on their own demonstrator fleets with vehicles being loaned to local businesses.

SKYACTIV, the technology that underpins both the Mazda6 and the Mazda CX-5, offers class leading CO₂emissions and first-class fuel economy among its key attributes, which also include safety and performance.

Earlier this year, the fleet friendly Mazda6 won ‘Best Upper Medium’ category at the Fleet News Awards, praised for its ground-breaking SKYACTIV technology, its class-leading efficiency and its ‘exceptional’ drive experience.  The all-new Mazda6 Tourer was also shortlisted in the ‘Best Estate category’.

Yesterday, the all-new Mazda6 won ‘Best Upper Medium’ Car Award at the Fleet World 2013 Honours, praised as ‘an extremely fine business car’ with clever SKYACTIV technology.

Mazda is anticipating that up to two-thirds of total Mazda6 sales will be company cars and Head of Fleet Steve Tomlinson said: “The all-new Mazda6 is the most important fleet model in the Mazda range. The reception that the car received on the fleet tour and subsequently since its official launch in January has been fantastic.

“As well as already making multiple unit sales to existing corporate customers, we are opening new accounts with organisations that we are speaking to for the first time.”

Commenting on the fleet-wide perception that manufacturers supply cars on long lead times, Tomlinson said: “We have a plentiful supply of Mazda6 models available. We are able to almost immediately supply cars to fleets and certainly ahead of the delivery times being quoted by many other manufacturers.”  

The key model in the all-new Mazda6 range is the 2.2-litre SKYACTIV-D 150ps diesel, which with a CO₂figure of 108g/km has one of the lowest emissions of any model in the upper medium sector. That means low benefit-in-kind tax bills for company car drivers and corporate taxes for businesses as well as 67.3mpg on the combined fuel cycle.

The Mazda6 range also includes a 175ps 2.2-litre SKYACTIV-D diesel engine and a 2.0-litre SKYACTIV-G petrol engine with the option of 145ps and 165ps power outputs with CO₂ emissions from an exceptional 129g/km.

Tomlinson said: “Fleet managers and company car drivers are very impressed with the low CO₂ emissions in the Mazda6 range, the available specification and engaging performance.

“By expanding the demonstrator fleet we are able to give fleet managers and company car drivers more time with cars and make them available to more people to experience the model’s unique characteristics.”

He added: “We also believe that the Mazda6 will be in high demand from small businesses, which is why we have given our dealer network the opportunity to expand their own demonstrator fleets.

“We are making more Mazda6 demonstrators available to our dealers because the model has such strong appeal right across the entire corporate sector.

“By making more demonstrators available we expect to drive company car drivers at a local level into our dealer network.”

On-the-road prices for diesel variants start at €25,455 on-the-road (OTR) for the 108g/km 2.2-litre 150ps Saloon SE through to €32,755 for the 129g/km 2.2-litre 175ps Tourer Sport Nav Auto. Prices for petrol models start at €22,886 OTR for the 129g/km 2.0-litre 145ps Saloon SE, rising to €29,041 for the 136g/km 2.0-litre 165ps Tourer Sport Nav.

Available in a choice of SE, SE Nav, SE-L, SE-L Nav, Sport and Sport Nav trim levels and with manual or automatic transmissions, virtually every model across the Saloon and Tourer line-up is available on corporate test.