2013 was a banner year for Mazda, as the Japanese carmaker chalked up one of the largest year-on-year gains of any volume carmaker on the European market. New registrations of Mazda passenger cars rose 18 per cent year-on-year in 2013 as the overall figure for Europe fell by 1.8 per cent

Mazda also outperformed every single individual market, in many cases by a wide margin, posting double-digit growth in three out of every four countries. The Nordic region was especially robust, with a combined 59 per cent more Mazdas sold relative to 2012.

The figures are above all attributable to Mazda’s exceedingly popular new model generation. European turnover of the Mazda CX-5, a compact SUV launched in 2012, grew 92 per cent year-on-year to 51,393 units, while the Mazda6 flagship introduced in early 2013 sold 32,563 times, up 71 per cent.