Mazda UK says dealers are opening throughout the UK at an increasing pace to meet the demand from customers to have a dealership or service centre no more than 20 minutes from their house.

Thirteen new Mazda dealerships have opened since June and a further two will open in December, bringing the total dealer count up to 140 by the end of the year, reaching the final target of 156 in 2004.

Mazda UK has identified 156 "areas of influence" where it wants representation, based on the theory that dealers sell more to people living closer to them. These "areas of influence" can be very small in cities and towns or very large in rural areas, commented Phil Waring managing director of Mazda UK.

A target drive time of no more than 20 minutes to have a car serviced means having an additional 50 service centres, or authorised repairers, supporting the dealer network. These could be established as "hub and spoke" operations as part of a main dealer's business or a multi-franchised specialised service centre, Phil Waring explained.

Wray Tennant, Mazda UK's Dealer Development Manager believes that the changes created by Block Exemption create a “fantastic opportunity and certainly should not be seen as a threat”. Customers stand to benefit from a much wider choice of where they buy their cars, said Tennant.