Last month saw the carmaker sell 13,201 cars in Europe, an increase of 29.2% versus April 2013. Year-on-year growth for the first four months of 2014 stood at 27.6%, resulting in an increase in Mazda’s European market share to 1.4%, up from 1.2% last year. The figures outpaced the Europe’s recovering passenger car market, which expanded by 4.2% in April and 7.1% for the year-to-date

Mazda attributed the figures largely to the now completed pan-European rollout of the Mazda3 compact and ongoing popularity of the CX-5.

‘This momentum is sustainable because it is built on excellent products, and I can tell you that we have a lot more of those on the way in the next couple of years,’ said Mazda Motor Europe COO Philip Waring. ‘With growing production capacity around the world, we’re also in a position to contend with such ever-increasing demand. The strategy we’ve chosen at Mazda is certainly proving to be a winner, as the recognition of growing numbers of customers confirms.’