Mazda is tired of fishing in second place.
Having been bridesmaid to Toyota's mid-sized sedan for 13 of the past 14 years, the Mazda6's makers are quietly looking ahead to the day Toyota stops building the Camry in Altona and has to source its best-selling sedan overseas.
Currently priced from $27,990 drive-away with 0 per cent interest loans, the locally-built Camry undercuts key competitors including the $32,490 plus on-road costs required for customers to get into the entry-level Mazda6.
Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders says the locally-built sedan is "the big elephant in the room" in the shrinking mid-sized market, a car the likes of Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Hyundai can't hope to topple in this year's sales race.
But Toyota's sales domination could change when it stops building cars locally in 2017.
"[The Camry] has achieved that on very sharp pricing out of its local production facility," Benders says.
"I'm really not sure what will happen when that closes down."
The brand's managing director says the end of Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon production could also benefit his brand as people look to new options in the sedan segment.
"The die-hard people are going to buy the last ones, or some of the last ones, and they'll last a certain amount of time," he says.
"[But] some people are moving across, looking for a brand that will be offering what they want later on. I don't think your Commodore and Falcon buyers really know what they're going to be buying tomorrow."
While Ford has announced that the Falcon name will be retired in October, Holden says the Commodore nameplate will live on with an imported model; most likely based on the next generation German-designed Opel Insignia.
"Holden is talking about Insignia but I don't think it's got a groundswell yet," Benders says. "Insignia is available now and Mondeo is available now, but I don't think [buyers] have made that connection yet."
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