missing features

All this makes me wish for trim levels above the Grand Touring that has all the features that I want. I believe there is an accessory to add a cover to the dead pedal area, but it is odd that there isn't something there besides carpet. The lack of a 360 camera system and an integrated remote start already in the key fob are the two features most on my wish list. The Nissan Rouge SL has these features for $35K USD. I'd gladly pay $36-37K for a CX-5 with all these missing features included. Hell I'd pay $40K to have one with the CX-9 engine in it, which would still be $8-10K cheaper than a Lexus NX (etc.) with similar features and performance.
I here you and hopefully Mazda North American Operations heard it too!
 
All this makes me wish for trim levels above the Grand Touring that has all the features that I want. I believe there is an accessory to add a cover to the dead pedal area, but it is odd that there isn't something there besides carpet. The lack of a 360 camera system and an integrated remote start already in the key fob are the two features most on my wish list. The Nissan Rouge SL has these features for $35K USD. I'd gladly pay $36-37K for a CX-5 with all these missing features included. Hell I'd pay $40K to have one with the CX-9 engine in it, which would still be $8-10K cheaper than a Lexus NX (etc.) with similar features and performance.

Wrong. Rogue SL is 29k not 35k.
 
Wrong. Rogue SL is 29k not 35k.

The $35K price is from Nissan's website configurator for an AWD model with all the packages except the fancy tan leather, plus the destination and handling charge. A soul red CX-5 Grand Touring with premium package is ~$34K including the destination and handling charge (from mazda's website). My point is that Mazda could easily add some of these missing features and still be competitive on price. That $1000 difference could easily get you an integrated remote start and 360 camera system.
 
The $35K price is from Nissan's website configurator for an AWD model with all the packages except the fancy tan leather, plus the destination and handling charge. A soul red CX-5 Grand Touring with premium package is ~$34K including the destination and handling charge (from mazda's website). My point is that Mazda could easily add some of these missing features and still be competitive on price. That $1000 difference could easily get you an integrated remote start and 360 camera system.

Wrong again. Any Nissan MSRP is bogus. They discount their cars like the cancer they are. No surprise their margins are crap. 11000 USD for mid spec Leaf lol. Its obvious that it's what their cars are worth.
People get less trade in for an Altima compared to a Civic.
Someone here switched to Nissan and got a discount on MSRP for 2017 that a Mazda dealership won't give on 16.5 outgoing.
It's 29k because its worth that much.
 
⋯ My point is that Mazda could easily add some of these missing features and still be competitive on price. That $1000 difference could easily get you an integrated remote start and 360 camera system.
At least on paper Mazda North American Operations should be able to do it like you said. But for some reason they refuse to treat US customer well! Memory driver's seat on 2016.5 CX-5 offered in Canada but not in the US is a perfect example! Remember many missing features are offered by many US competitors too! I believe this is "penny wise、pound foolish" by MNAO as they're cutting corners by not offering many nice features to US customers, and in return US customers are not buying the CX-5. Hence US sales on CX-5 in compact CUV segment has always been at the bottom side, even worse than Subaru Forester!

I only wish US customers can get all features that Mazda offers to other regions. But two features you mentioned above that would be differicult for Mazda to offer. Mazda does have Side-View Camera in other countries, but not 360 Camera System. Integrated remote start? Still under research and development ⋯ ;)
 
My point has always been regardless of which country one resides, all features should be available to all countries be it standard or as an option.

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They don't offer 360 degree camera anywhere. AFAIK side camera only offered here and in Japan.

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Country specific demands.
It's not country specific demands, but a poor decision made by some top excecutives at Mazda North American Operations! Those features have been offered by many competitors in the US, why can Mazda CX-5 be a leading vehicle offering every features they have where competitors lack? Why has CX-5 always been categorized as lack of some "common" or even "basic" features? MNAO could have offered all of those missing features as standard equipment mentioned by OP, or packed all missing features mentioned here as a Luxury Package for a fee! Current $1,830 Premium Package on GT has shown a poor taste of features selected by MNAO. Memory seat should always come with the power seat. Heated steering wheel and rear seats as well as windshield wiper de-icer are rarely used by a half of the US customers. MADD/HUD is unique and expensive, but most US customers have never used this feature and they don't feel the need of wanting one! Offering a GT Luxury Package including all missing features mentioned in this thread as well as integrated front/rear parking sensors、power folding side mirrors, and a Fuel Saving Package including i-stop and i-ELOOP on CX-5 would be a lot more sensible!
 
How much is a a Japanese CX-5? I'm going to be it's a little more expensive.
 
How much is a a Japanese CX-5? I'm going to be it's a little more expensive.
CX-5 price is about 16% cheaper in Japan than in the US but with more features unavailable to us. I posted such info just on the other day:

In Japan, top-of-line 25S L Package 2WD with SkyActiv-G 2.5L is 2,986,200 JPY ($26,793.69 USD) and 4WD is 3,213,000 JPY ($28,809.48 USD). However on the States side, 2017 CX-5 Grand Touring base MSRP is $29,395 on FWD; $30,695 on AWD. Destination charge is $940. We need to add another $1,830 for Grand Touring Premium Package as Japanese top-of-line 25S L Package has everything we have and more! So for top-of-line 2017 US CX-5 GT with Premium FWD is $32,165 and AWD is $33,465.

Now the top-of-line SkyActiv-D 2.2L diesel CX-5, XD L Package 2WD is 3,299,400 JPY ($29,581.33 USD) and 4WD is 3,526,200 JPY ($31,606.14 USD) in Japan. So in theory, we'll see about $2,800 increase for a diesel CX-5 when it becomes available in the US. How many of you are willing to pay $36,262 to get a top-of-line diesel AWD CX-5?

Fuel economy rating in Japan for diesel XD L Package 2WD is 18.0 km/L (42.3 MPG) and for 4WD is 17.2 km/L (40.5 MPG). For 2.5L gasoline 25S L Package 2WD is 14.8 km/L (34.8 MPG) and for 4WD is 14.6 km/L (34.3 MPG). Based on big difference on SA-G 2.5L fuel economy ratings between Japan and US EPA, we can predict the SA-D 2.2L diesel CX-5 would have much lower EPA ratings in the US than Japanese ratings.

That's why I don't feel diesel CX-5 is attractive to me. It's going to be a hard sell in the US market IMHO.

cx-5-japan_1.jpg

cx-5-japan_2.jpg
 
You don't need lighted window switches... You put you hand there and just touch the one you want. Lit window switches would train you to take you eyes off the road.

Hmm good point. I do a lot of night driving in my Mazda6 which has everything illuminated. When going through the parking gate I never look down on the window switch. Its just there.

Whats more important are the locks. Are the locks illuminated in the CX-5? I can't remember.
 
It's not country specific demands, but a poor decision made by some top excecutives at Mazda North American Operations! Those features have been offered by many competitors in the US, why can Mazda CX-5 be a leading vehicle offering every features they have where competitors lack? Why has CX-5 always been categorized as lack of some "common" or even "basic" features? MNAO could have offered all of those missing features as standard equipment mentioned by OP, or packed all missing features mentioned here as a Luxury Package for a fee! Current $1,830 Premium Package on GT has shown a poor taste of features selected by MNAO. Memory seat should always come with the power seat. Heated steering wheel and rear seats as well as windshield wiper de-icer are rarely used by a half of the US customers. MADD/HUD is unique and expensive, but most US customers have never used this feature and they don't feel the need of wanting one! Offering a GT Luxury Package including all missing features mentioned in this thread as well as integrated front/rear parking sensors、power folding side mirrors, and a Fuel Saving Package including i-stop and i-ELOOP on CX-5 would be a lot more sensible!

I agree with most of your points. I think the premium package is an odd mishmash of items. I also think there's might be another couple of factors in play.

Mazda is a relatively small car company and economies of scale their competitors enjoy aren't there for Mazda. I'd speculate margins are tighter than the likes of Honda, Toyota, Ford etc. and they would have to be very disciplined when it comes to building to a price. They obviously don't have the luxury to provide all the options that the likes of a Ford make available due to manufacturing and distribution complexities.

Also, US consumers are likely more price sensitive for this type of car than many overseas markets. Europeans are used to smaller cars due to high fuel costs and emissions taxes. Consumers still want high levels of trim and are willing to pay for it. To avoid large fuel and emissions taxes, they likely won't cross shop with a larger car.

Americans on the other hand, are used to lower fuel costs so have historically been buyers of larger cars. If the headline sticker price on a small car gets too large, it's reasonable to look at the next size up. The compact segment is made more competitive in the US, in part due to the CAFE standards. Consumers generally like bigger cars but manufacturers need to sell high volumes of compact, fuel efficient cars to meet regulations. The way to do this is to drive margins down on compact cars and make them very appealing compared to larger offerings.

All the above being said, it doesn't mean that Mazda were as smart as they could have been when selecting certain options/packages.


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On my 14', I have took care of the unlock button:
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Agree with JonNY's comments. Small company can only do so much. Japan HQ makes all the key decisions. Local HQ only has so much influence

Also considering over here a top spec Akera costs AUD $51000-$55000, it's more country specific decisions re less features rather than penny pinching per se

It also has to do with the marketing boffins of both countries (Japan and country the vehicle will be sold in) thinking what the people in the specific country would want and use.

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I agree with most of your points. I think the premium package is an odd mishmash of items. I also think there's might be another couple of factors in play.

Mazda is a relatively small car company and economies of scale their competitors enjoy aren't there for Mazda. I'd speculate margins are tighter than the likes of Honda, Toyota, Ford etc. and they would have to be very disciplined when it comes to building to a price. They obviously don't have the luxury to provide all the options that the likes of a Ford make available due to manufacturing and distribution complexities.

Also, US consumers are likely more price sensitive for this type of car than many overseas markets. Europeans are used to smaller cars due to high fuel costs and emissions taxes. Consumers still want high levels of trim and are willing to pay for it. To avoid large fuel and emissions taxes, they likely won't cross shop with a larger car.

Americans on the other hand, are used to lower fuel costs so have historically been buyers of larger cars. If the headline sticker price on a small car gets too large, it's reasonable to look at the next size up. The compact segment is made more competitive in the US, in part due to the CAFE standards. Consumers generally like bigger cars but manufacturers need to sell high volumes of compact, fuel efficient cars to meet regulations. The way to do this is to drive margins down on compact cars and make them very appealing compared to larger offerings.

All the above being said, it doesn't mean that Mazda were as smart as they could have been when selecting certain options/packages.
Although $1,830 for GT Premium Package is not a steal like $780 Touring Preferred Equipment Package, ever noticed people here getting 2017 CX-5 GT's, almost all of them are getting the Premium Package? Not to mention some features in Premium Package may not be useful for them at all! As I said earlier, Mazda can pack some missing features as a package for a fee. I simply don't understand why Mazda has nice products can sell for more money, but for some reason they don't want to sell them? These features are going to be an optional package, and doing this simply let customers have more choices, and Mazda can have opportunity to sell more stuffs and make more money!

Some minor item such as open/close dial control on center dash vents and dead pedal cover should be included in the higher trims. Missing those things only makes CX-5 feels cheap. They also have to create two separate parts for a single component, which could cost more if we look at the entire picture!
 
Although $1,830 for GT Premium Package is not a steal like $780 Touring Preferred Equipment Package, ever noticed people here getting 2017 CX-5 GT's, almost all of them are getting the Premium Package? Not to mention some features in Premium Package may not be useful for them at all! As I said earlier, Mazda can pack some missing features as a package for a fee. I simply don't understand why Mazda has nice products can sell for more money, but for some reason they don't want to sell them? These features are going to be an optional package, and doing this simply let customers have more choices, and Mazda can have opportunity to sell more stuffs and make more money!

Some minor item such as open/close dial control on center dash vents and dead pedal cover should be included in the higher trims. Missing those things only makes CX-5 feels cheap. They also have to create two separate parts for a single component, which could cost more if we look at the entire picture!

It's a ploy - they'll come out with a signature trim for the 2018 and we'll all be trading in our 2017 GTs.

Maybe Mazda has misjudged US demand for a more premium product even after marketing it heavily, or many on this board (GT plus premium package) are unrepresentative of the broader base of buyer. Either way, there are some questionable choices on bundling of packages / omission of equipment.

In any event, I just drove out of NYC to CT in stop-start traffic on a journey of 50m which took two hours. The car performed flawlessly, especially radar cruise, and my concerns over power fold mirrors, vent controls and parking sensors faded away.....until the next time I park on the street in NYC.

And I might well forgive those issues as I took some back roads on the way to CT and was tipping the car into corners harder than I'd previous tried. There seems to be some initial body roll (which initially surprised me) and then the chassis settles down and you can start to accelerate / tip the car into corners even harder. Tires have yet to protest so I'm obviously not pushing hard enough!




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It's a ploy - they'll come out with a signature trim for the 2018 and we'll all be trading in our 2017 GTs.

Maybe Mazda has misjudged US demand for a more premium product even after marketing it heavily, or many on this board (GT plus premium package) are unrepresentative of the broader base of buyer. Either way, there are some questionable choices on bundling of packages / omission of equipment.

In any event, I just drove out of NYC to CT in stop-start traffic on a journey of 50m which took two hours. The car performed flawlessly, especially radar cruise, and my concerns over power fold mirrors, vent controls and parking sensors faded away.....until the next time I park on the street in NYC.

And I might well forgive those issues as I took some back roads on the way to CT and was tipping the car into corners harder than I'd previous tried. There seems to be some initial body roll (which initially surprised me) and then the chassis settles down and you can start to accelerate / tip the car into corners even harder. Tires have yet to protest so I'm obviously not pushing hard enough!




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How was it's engine performance?

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