Managing director and dealer principal Peter Merks said the opening of the 5000 square metre warehouse in the nearby suburb of Ascot was an unexpected result of rising sales.

“We have only been in operation for a year and we have reported a 23 per cent increase in new-cars sales,” he said.

“This is against a 3.7 per cent downturn in sales in Western Australia this year.”

Bayswater Mazda, previously Wood Bros Mazda, has a highly visible cross-road location on the busy arterial Guildford Road that connects north-eastern suburbs with Perth’s CBD and is a major thoroughfare for the airports.

It is the only new-car franchise within a two kilometre radius.

“But though we initially thought we had sufficient room, we unexpectedly needed space for more new and used cars.,” Mr Merks said.

Mazda sales in WA are up 1.2 per cent year-to-date and 6.7 per cent for the month of September. This is against the national sales figure of a 5.5 per cent increase year-to-date and a rise of 10.5 per cent in September.

By Neil Dowling