Mazda had a successful debut at Manheim Auctions, Bruntingthorpe, last month at its first ever physical closed auction. It offered 150 vehicles which achieved a 99% conversion with a total sales value of £1.83 million.

The auction was attended by 51 buyers, 27 of whom were logged online via Simulcast. Star performers on the day included a Mazda2 Hatchback 1.5 TS2 5dr Auto which sold for 119% CAP Clean and a one-off special edition Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe 2.0i Sport Tech model created by Banzai Magazine.

Mazda has a solus remarketing agreement with Manheim which has been operating a CyberAuction sales programme for the company since 2008. Other services used by Mazda include Manheim Direct and photography of all Mazda wholesale vehicles by Manheim Retail Marketing.

Peter Allibon, sales director, Mazda Motors UK, said: “We are delighted by the success of our first ever physical closed auction.

“The brand repatriation offering of additional stock profiles proved very attractive to Mazda’s franchised dealer network, it was well attended and the quality and variety of the product on offer created a lot of interest which resulted in very lively bidding.”

James Leese, manufacturer sales director, Manheim Remarketing, added: “We were excited to deliver the first physical closed auction for Mazda and combining Manufacturer and Leasing product in the sale was very well received by the franchise dealers. We are proud to support Mazda with its remarketing programme and we are looking forward to developing this throughout 2012.”