Eastern Western Motor Group has opened a specialist corporate Mazda dealership in Edinburgh.

The new site, Western Mazda on Corstophine Road, comes as Mazda is increasing its fleet focus with the expansion of its business development programme launched earlier this year to a further 20 franchise dealers across the UK.

Greg Law has been appointed corporate sales manager at the recently opened dealership.

Law brings more than a decade of experience in both corporate sales and serving the business community to the role having previously worked for the John Martin Group in Edinburgh at its Murray Volvo and Murray Mazda outlets.

Western Mazda is one of the new dealers to join Mazda’s business development programme, which sees franchise dealers working in tandem with an outsourced specialist sales team to maximise local business sales opportunities.

The programme has already helped Mazda to record a 13% year-to-date rise in its core fleet sales to outright purchase fleets, contract hire and leasing companies and through Mazda contract hire. Volumes have increased from almost 4,400 in the first nine months of 2009 to almost 5,000 vehicles in 2010.

While Mazda’s own corporate sales team focuses on fleets running 100 plus vehicles, Magma Services, part of the London-based automotive specialist Magma Group, is driving forward fleet sales to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in partnership with franchise dealers, such as Western Mazda.

Mazda Fleet and Remarketing Director Peter Allibon said: “Although we have had a presence in Edinburgh this is the first time that there had been a focus on fleet sales for a couple of years.”
 

More than 200 company car orders from sub-50 fleets have been taken through the programme to-date and by April 30, 2011 - the end of the first 12 months of the initiative - the forecast is that orders for 820 company cars will have been taken.