Mazda Australia got the year off to a record start setting a new monthly sales benchmark in January, while hitting new sales highs for the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6.

Last month Mazda retailed 5,726 vehicles, its best month since the Mazda brand went on sale in Australia 46 years ago.

The January result was 183 more than the company’s previous best month of 5543 sales in June last year.

The class-leading Mazda 3 celebrated its first birthday on the Australian market with sales of 2,781, an increase of 408 cars on its previous best month in December last year.

Mazda 6 also enjoyed record sales with the sedan, hatch and wagon range selling 1,324 in January, surpassing the car’s previous best of 1,310 sales in August last year.

Mazda’s January total was a significant 45.7 per cent up on this time last year, a performance that had stood as the company’s best January sales performance.

This year Mazda Australia expects to continue its sales growth, which since 2000 has seen retails increase by 102 per cent. The company expects to sell a record 60,000 vehicles this year.

Other strong performers last month included the Mazda 2 (526 sales) and the Tribute AWD wagon (477 sales).

Mazda Australia’s managing director, Doug Dickson, said: “This record is the result of months of planning and a lot of hard work particularly by our world-class dealer network.

“Such a strong performance is a further reminder that Australians appreciate great style, performance and value and the present Zoom-Zoom Mazda range all have it as standard.”