LOS ANGELES - Mazda North American Operations has launched a prepaid scheduled maintenance program to retain more customers.

Consumers who buy a new vehicle or used or certified-used Mazda from the 2007 model year or later are eligible for the program. The plan, called Mazda Total Advantage, covers factory-scheduled maintenance and is available in increments of one to five years, reported Automotive News.

“The primary purpose is to drive an increase in service retention and owner loyalty,” Michael Jennings, manager of dealer service process improvement for Mazda, said on Friday.

Customer retention has been a struggle for Mazda. The brand ranked 21st out of 34 brands in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Customer Retention Study. Just 37 percent of its customers returned to the brand for their next purchase, compared with the industry average of 48 percent.

About half of Mazda’s owners have maintenance work performed at Mazda dealerships, Jennings said.

Mazda says the prepaid plan could let customers save as much as 20 percent compared with paying for maintenance work a la carte. Costs will vary by dealer, the vehicle in question, and the length of the contract, Jennings said.

“There are so many variables out there in the market. We can’t control what dealers do,” Jennings said.

Customers can also roll the cost of the prepaid maintenance into vehicle purchases financed by Mazda Capital Services.

Mazda’s U.S. sales through the first six months of the year rose to 122,379 vehicles, a 6 percent gain over the same period last year. Total sales in the market are up 13 percent.