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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
In case you are bored and you want something to read. Pretty much blah, but few things that called my attention: the Honda Stream and Toyota Wish rumors, the sliding door opening dimensions (27.5 inches wide and 42.6 inches high) and that the Rondo is not considered in the review (dunno). Mixed feelings, the car may be actually catching up some popularity.
With a pervasive prejudice in the market towards station wagons, automakers are forced to invent new names for the family wagon, just as Mazda has done with the Mazda 5. They call it a Multi-Activity Vehicle. Raise your hand if you want to go back to the simple, clear, concise name "wagon."
It's the Boomers who keep this prejudice alive; it goes back to swallowing smoke that wafted to the back seat as our parents lit up Pall Malls and Camels. But maybe the tables are turning.
In fact, today's SUVs are just wagons on HGH (human growth hormone), and the Mazda 5 is a tall wagon in a class by itself. A small family hauler with Mazda brand zoom-zoom, sales of the Mazda 5 were up 29 percent last year, representing 13,718 vehicles. In fact, Mazda as a whole celebrated six consecutive years of sales and earnings growth.
Wait a minute: isn't the auto industry depressed and anticipating recession? Yes, the auto industry is probably going to be down this year, but Mazda sales are up 8.4 percent in the first two months of 2008.
The Mazda 5 is in the envious position of having Mazda genes and being a right-sized vehicle for today. Mazda 5 is a category of one; there's no direct competition. That can be as lonely as being a Maytag repairman, but it also means Mazda is on top of what can only become a category that will see more entries.
The Mazda 5 is sold in other markets in greater volume, over 116,000 worldwide, which is why it was easy for Mazda to bring it into the U.S. They slid it right into the white space between the Mazda 3 (smaller) and the CX-7 (bigger).
What the Mazda 5 offers consumers is a vehicle smaller than a minivan, such as the Honda Odyssey that seats six arranged theatre-style. Mazda 5 has minivan-like, manual-sliding, easily-operated rear side doors that create a wide opening 27.5 inches wide and 42.6 inches high for easy entry and exit to the rear seats -- even for the third row of passengers. If there are children or older adults in your world this is a boon. It's been given a bit of a facelift to the front fascia, grille, headlights and taillights.
Mazda 5 is powered by a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine, which gets 22 miles per gallon city and 28 mpg highway for manual transmission models. Automatic models are EPA rated at 21 mpg city 27 mpg highway.
The five-speed manual gearbox is a short-shifter--score one for the manual shift people. But you can also get a five-speed automatic that is slightly less fuel-efficient.
The Mazda 5 comes with excellent visibility (no extra charge.) I find visibility to be very optional in some vehicles. There's plenty of safety built into the Mazda 5, including head restraints for all six seats, advanced front airbags that use sensors to measure seat occupants' weight, severity of the impact and distance from seat to dash, before deploying, side and curtain airbags that run the full length of the cabin. LATCH-style rear child safety seat anchors and tethers are fitted to the second row seats. Large disc brakes, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist are standard as is a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
The interior is stylish and has a few unique characteristics. My favorites are these very smart storage units under the second-row seat cushions. Cost runs from $17,995 for the base model to $25,000 fully loaded.
So the downside of being a majority of one is that you don't get a lot of play in the media. And the downside of being Mazda is that you're a little company with about 685 dealers and only half of those are exclusive to Mazda. Then you don't have much marketing money and you're sort of the stepchild of Ford who has all these cool things going on like Ford Sync and "ecoboosting or twin turbo charged engines and you have to wait until Daddy says you can have privileges. And those are reasons total Mazda sales in the U.S. are under 300,000, although this year could be the breakthrough.
Mazda definitely deserves to sell more vehicles. Rumors that Honda will bring its Stream to the U.S. in 2009 are going around and that vehicle would compete directly with the Mazda 5, making the category more visible. Rumors are running too, that Toyota would bring the Wish could make it even more interesting. Both vehicles are now sold in Japan. They have hinged doors in the rear so Mazda would still be the only one with minivan-like sliders in the rear but they are both about the same size as the Mazda 5.
Source and Credit:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/356-04042008-1514162.html
With a pervasive prejudice in the market towards station wagons, automakers are forced to invent new names for the family wagon, just as Mazda has done with the Mazda 5. They call it a Multi-Activity Vehicle. Raise your hand if you want to go back to the simple, clear, concise name "wagon."
It's the Boomers who keep this prejudice alive; it goes back to swallowing smoke that wafted to the back seat as our parents lit up Pall Malls and Camels. But maybe the tables are turning.
In fact, today's SUVs are just wagons on HGH (human growth hormone), and the Mazda 5 is a tall wagon in a class by itself. A small family hauler with Mazda brand zoom-zoom, sales of the Mazda 5 were up 29 percent last year, representing 13,718 vehicles. In fact, Mazda as a whole celebrated six consecutive years of sales and earnings growth.
Wait a minute: isn't the auto industry depressed and anticipating recession? Yes, the auto industry is probably going to be down this year, but Mazda sales are up 8.4 percent in the first two months of 2008.
The Mazda 5 is in the envious position of having Mazda genes and being a right-sized vehicle for today. Mazda 5 is a category of one; there's no direct competition. That can be as lonely as being a Maytag repairman, but it also means Mazda is on top of what can only become a category that will see more entries.
The Mazda 5 is sold in other markets in greater volume, over 116,000 worldwide, which is why it was easy for Mazda to bring it into the U.S. They slid it right into the white space between the Mazda 3 (smaller) and the CX-7 (bigger).
What the Mazda 5 offers consumers is a vehicle smaller than a minivan, such as the Honda Odyssey that seats six arranged theatre-style. Mazda 5 has minivan-like, manual-sliding, easily-operated rear side doors that create a wide opening 27.5 inches wide and 42.6 inches high for easy entry and exit to the rear seats -- even for the third row of passengers. If there are children or older adults in your world this is a boon. It's been given a bit of a facelift to the front fascia, grille, headlights and taillights.
Mazda 5 is powered by a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine, which gets 22 miles per gallon city and 28 mpg highway for manual transmission models. Automatic models are EPA rated at 21 mpg city 27 mpg highway.
The five-speed manual gearbox is a short-shifter--score one for the manual shift people. But you can also get a five-speed automatic that is slightly less fuel-efficient.
The Mazda 5 comes with excellent visibility (no extra charge.) I find visibility to be very optional in some vehicles. There's plenty of safety built into the Mazda 5, including head restraints for all six seats, advanced front airbags that use sensors to measure seat occupants' weight, severity of the impact and distance from seat to dash, before deploying, side and curtain airbags that run the full length of the cabin. LATCH-style rear child safety seat anchors and tethers are fitted to the second row seats. Large disc brakes, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist are standard as is a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
The interior is stylish and has a few unique characteristics. My favorites are these very smart storage units under the second-row seat cushions. Cost runs from $17,995 for the base model to $25,000 fully loaded.
So the downside of being a majority of one is that you don't get a lot of play in the media. And the downside of being Mazda is that you're a little company with about 685 dealers and only half of those are exclusive to Mazda. Then you don't have much marketing money and you're sort of the stepchild of Ford who has all these cool things going on like Ford Sync and "ecoboosting or twin turbo charged engines and you have to wait until Daddy says you can have privileges. And those are reasons total Mazda sales in the U.S. are under 300,000, although this year could be the breakthrough.
Mazda definitely deserves to sell more vehicles. Rumors that Honda will bring its Stream to the U.S. in 2009 are going around and that vehicle would compete directly with the Mazda 5, making the category more visible. Rumors are running too, that Toyota would bring the Wish could make it even more interesting. Both vehicles are now sold in Japan. They have hinged doors in the rear so Mazda would still be the only one with minivan-like sliders in the rear but they are both about the same size as the Mazda 5.
Source and Credit:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/356-04042008-1514162.html
