IRVINE, Calif. Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced that it sold 4,272 CX-7 Crossover SUVs in October, nearly offsetting the sharp decline of its most popular model, the MAZDA3, due to lack of availability. MNAO's overall sales fell 652 units to 18,843, a drop of 3.4 percent month over month. Year-to-date sales are 228,082, an increase of three percent over the first 10 months of 2005.

Two factors negatively affected our overall sales picture this month, our lack of MAZDA3's and our planned reduction in fleet sales, said Jim O'Sullivan, MNAO president and CEO. However, our overall retail sales are up year over year and we nearly beat last October's sales, thanks to another dramatic monthly increase in CX-7 sales, which are being driven by strong media praise and consumer enthusiasm.

MNAO's Canadian and Mexican operations both showed strong sales in October. Mazda Canada, Inc. (MCI), had a record October, selling 5,978 units, an increase of eight percent. MCI is up four percent year to date on sales of 71,160 units. Mazda Motor de Mexico, which opened for business last October, sold 804 Mazda's this October with just 10 dealerships.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda sales in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. MCI is located in Ontario, Canada, and Mazda Motor de Mexico is in Mexico City.