Mazda's range-wide price drop

Mazda has made the decision to pre-empt the 2010 import duty cut -- which will halve the tariff from 10 per cent to five per cent on passenger cars from January 1 next year -- bringing forward savings for its buyers.

It states that new car buyers can save of up to $2000 on some models, with the popular Mazda3 price dropping by more than $900.
The new 2010 duty savings policy will be available at Mazda dealers beginning today, Monday October 12.

There has been some conjecture that reducing the tariffs on imported passenger cars will damage the local car manufacturing industry, but proponents of the move say it will reduce the price on more passenger vehicles which is a good thing for new car buyers.

Mazda Australia managing director, Doug Dickson, said: "Introducing the duty cut now delivers a significant saving for new car buyers.

"Combine these savings with the Federal Government's 50 per cent investment allowance for small business available until year's end and Mazda is doing all it can to stimulate what remains a sluggish new vehicle market," added Mr Dickson.

The only vehicles not affected by the tariff cut are four-wheel drive and light commercial vehicles, which are already subjected to the lower five per cent duty.

Mazda's early adoption of tariff reductions will also have an effect on the price of the Mazda2, which has just begun production at a Thai plant to augment the Japanese production.

AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) is a joint venture manufacturing plant created by Ford and Mazda to build and export vehicles in the South East Asian region.

As a result of this joint venture, Ford will also manufacture its Ford Fiesta at the AAT plant, with Australia's future allocations of the Blue Oval's small car to be sourced from this Thai plant.

However Mazda Australia will not follow Ford's lead and has stated that local versions of the Mazda2 will still be sourced from Japan.

Interestingly, the Mazda2 being produced by AAT appears to have been given a mild facelift which, as the images reveal, show subtle new changes to the front bumper -- seen in the enlarged fog light surrounds and the enlarged lower air intake that most new Mazda's now display.

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