Mazda Denies Report They Will Scrap Incentives in U.S.

Washington DC August 17, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that Mazda denied a report that it plans to end all sales incentives for new models in the U.S.

The report, published yesterday in Japan's Nihon Keizai newspaper, claimed the automaker planned to cut "margin-eroding sales incentives for new models in the U.S." in order to "stabilize car prices."

Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes told Inside Line, a free online car magazine published by Edmunds.com, "There is no truth to it. Our intention is to minimize incentives, but we will continue to use incentives."

Last month, Mazda announced profitability in North America was improving as it reduced spending on incentives, which averaged around $1,800 per vehicle in the April-June quarter, compared to around $2,000 in the year-earlier period.