Mazda North American Operations Sales Figures August 2018 - CX-5 Sales Up!

[Monterra]

I disagree with displacement being the problem..I think its still a bit early to say but from my experience it just didn't put the amount of life/fun into the drive that i expected and its because of how its tuned for low end grunt vs performance. This works perfectly on the cx9 and would still be at home in the 5 but its more diesel-y in its current state of tune, which isn't bad but it doesn't make it a legit sport sedan on the cheap.. unfortunately and yeah mpg does suffer. Add awd and turn up the volume some and its a much more intriguing proposition..for me

 

[jeffrow925]

Look... dated? Are you joking? I think it's gorgeous. Looks better then any car in Honda or Toyota's fleet except MAYBE the civic. Although that competes more in the 3's market, it's probably the only other Japanese car that imo even looks slightly appealing.
The 6 is surely doing a lot better right now then it would have if it had not been updated. As stated several times and as we all know, the car market is slumping across the board. The 6 slump here isn't because the car's no good or the... colors are bad.

Well you and 2k of the people agree who are buying it monthly. Or about 0.000001% of the population.

It looks dated in the sense it looks the same as the 2013. No one sees it on the road and goes oh thats the new Mazda 6 model. Cus you cant tell.

 

[CX-5um]

It looks dated in the sense it looks the same as the 2013. No one sees it on the road and goes oh that*s the new Mazda 6 model. Cus you can*t tell.

My opinion is slightly different based on personal experience. Since my car is constantly clean/waxed I get complimented all the time from my Mazda6...but its not the "wow is that the new mazda6?" but rather "wow nice car" or "wow that paint color looks nice, what kind of car is that?" type of compliments from the general public.

That said yes its difficult to differentiate from the rear and side right away even for me from a distance (2013 vs 2016 vs 2018).

 

[dougal]

As much as I hate sedans in general, they still account for 40% of Mazda*s sales according to the numbers above. Why would they kill off nearly half of their business in the US?

If numbers keep dropping, then maybe a generation from now they should consoldiate the 3 and 6 into one catchy sports sedan. But I think Mazda*s sedan will always have a healthy segment of buyers who can*t quite leap to a Lexus or BMW, but find the other mainstream offerings too boring. It*s not like that car couldn*t share a lot with the CX vehicles.

That is a solid point. They will need models to replace the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6. To a large extent, I think the CX-3 could be made just a little bit larger and be used as the Mazda 3 replacement and maybe the CX4 could be the Mazda 6 replacement?

The trend for those two models (3 and 6) is very worrisome. The Mazda 6 is down almost 45% from 2015 and the Mazda 3 is down ~35%. Maybe a refresh will help the Mazda 3 and I personally am looking to buy the sky active 2019 Mazda 3.

 

[VQ35DE]

https://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/press-release/august-2018-sales/

 

[J.R.]

All cars are dropping in sales. The accord is going to be down ~14% this year. And the Mazda 6? It will actually be up by ~1.6% from last year. But that is not saying much as sales are down almost 50% from 2015!

Put me down as the person who thinks Mazda should dump the Mazda 3 and 6 in the USA. Have the CX-3, CX-4 (brought to North America), CX-5, a new car called the CX-7 and the CX-9. The CX-8 is too close to the CX-9 for the USA.

They can keep the Miata but all the rest can go.

They should dump their 2nd (and 4th) best selling vehicle despite them being at/near EOL and in a slumping car market? Don't think that's going to happen

 

[J.R.]

Nobody sells roadsters like Mazda. Now if only I can fit in one!!

I agree with that. Wish they had a bit bigger of a sportcar that I could comfortably fit in

Doubt it will happen in the current (crossovers!) climate but a modern MX6 2 door coupe based on the Shinari concept would be sexy AF. Make it rear or AWD with either 2.5T or a 2.5L version of the X motor and available manual and... (rockon)

 

[dougal]

They should dump their 2nd (and 4th) best selling vehicle despite them being at/near EOL and in a slumping car market? Don't think that's going to happen

Not dump, replace.

If you have a product that is losing 10-20% sales you better think about replacing it before it will be dumped - by the consumer! The trend in the USA is SUV/CUV -not cars (petrol cars). This is not a Mazda issue, it is impacting companies like Honda and Toyota as well.

 

[CX-5um]

Not dump, replace.

If you have a product that is losing 10-20% sales you better think about replacing it before it will be dumped - by the consumer! The trend in the USA is SUV/CUV -not cars (petrol cars). This is not a Mazda issue, it is impacting companies like Honda and Toyota as well.

The once vaunted Accord has slumped 10 straight months. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-04/honda-accord-s-faltering-u-s-sales

That said, if the price is right and dealers are needing to sell the Accord would be a bargain!!!

 

[ColoradoDriver]

I disagree with displacement being the problem..I think its still a bit early to say but from my experience it just didn't put the amount of life/fun into the drive that i expected and its because of how its tuned for low end grunt vs performance. This works perfectly on the cx9 and would still be at home in the 5 but its more diesel-y in its current state of tune, which isn't bad but it doesn't make it a legit sport sedan on the cheap.. unfortunately and yeah mpg does suffer. Add awd and turn up the volume some and its a much more intriguing proposition..for me

Yeah see this is what I was saying when the 6 2.5T first showed up. I'll disclaim that I've never owned a turbo so I am not really familiar with their driving characteristics.

But what I saw from the reviews was that the way the 2.5T functioned in the 6, was not at all what the performance minded folks who were clamoring for it actually wanted. Not too mention the performance folks wanted that and a stick.

I think we are seeing that clash of old Mazda vs. the new (not my cup of tea) direction they want to go in.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Doubt it will happen in the current (crossovers!) climate but a modern MX6 2 door coupe based on the Shinari concept would be sexy AF. Make it rear or AWD with either 2.5T or a 2.5L version of the X motor and available manual and... (rockon)

Not caring for that concept photo personally, but I do love the idea of a coupe.

I actually really liked the idea of the Miata RF, or the PRHT on the NC's, vs a soft top convertible. They're just kinda small. But I also always liked how the RX-7 and RX-8 looked, though I'll do without the rotary lol.

 

[J.R.]

Not dump, replace.

If you have a product that is losing 10-20% sales you better think about replacing it before it will be dumped - by the consumer! The trend in the USA is SUV/CUV -not cars (petrol cars). This is not a Mazda issue, it is impacting companies like Honda and Toyota as well.

They don't need to 'replace' the 3. Again, even at it's EOL/5 years old, it's still their second best selling vehicle by a pretty wide margin. That's actually pretty impressive IMO and I'd wager a lot of the percentage decrease in sales YOY is due to those reasons (and competition catching up/newer models) more so than the CUV craze. (Though I'm sure it's having a small effect as well.)

Dropping car sales vs crossover sales or not, canceling it would just be dumb. And it would be canceled, as buyers already have the CX3/CX5 as CUV 'options' to the 3.

 

[J.R.]

Not caring for that concept photo personally, but I do love the idea of a coupe.

I actually really liked the idea of the Miata RF, or the PRHT on the NC's, vs a soft top convertible. They're just kinda small. But I also always liked how the RX-7 and RX-8 looked, though I'll do without the rotary lol.

I quite like the concept but to each their own

Yeah I'd be tempted by an RF (I'm short, so size is no issue) as well but really, I'd just far prefer they make an actual coupe that would be lighter, more structurally rigid and have better outward visibility. Particularly as I live in a temperate rain forest and have little use for a convertible most of the year. But then the soft top is lighter and a fair bit cheaper so I'd probably just get that...lol

Same with RX7/RX8...love the look etc but want nothing to do with a rotary motor. Far prefer they went with something like Subaru's boxer motor or see if they can't 'lie down' their I4 or something to get the low hood/low centre of gravity look and feel the RX's always had.

Doing that they might even be able to make an 'affordable' BRZ/T86 competitor. Otherwise a modern, 'real' RX would likely be closer to $60k which would certainly give me pause...

 

[ColoradoDriver]

I quite like the concept but to each their own

Yeah I'd be tempted by an RF (I'm short, so size is no issue) as well but really, I'd just far prefer they make an actual coupe that would be lighter, more structurally rigid and have better outward visibility. Particularly as I live in a temperate rain forest and have little use for a convertible most of the year. But then the soft top is lighter and a fair bit cheaper so I'd probably just get that...lol

Same with RX7/RX8...love the look etc but want nothing to do with a rotary motor. Far prefer they went with something like Subaru's boxer motor or see if they can't 'lie down' their I4 or something to get the low hood/low centre of gravity look and feel the RX's always had.

Doing that they might even be able to make an 'affordable' BRZ/T86 competitor. Otherwise a modern, 'real' RX would likely be closer to $60k which would certainly give me pause...

Yep yep!

 

[NelsonLewis]

Doubt it will happen in the current (crossovers!) climate but a modern MX6 2 door coupe based on the Shinari concept would be sexy AF. Make it rear or AWD with either 2.5T or a 2.5L version of the X motor and available manual and... (rockon)

Oh look, its a Mazdarati!

 

[NelsonLewis]

Yeah see this is what I was saying when the 6 2.5T first showed up. I'll disclaim that I've never owned a turbo so I am not really familiar with their driving characteristics.

But what I saw from the reviews was that the way the 2.5T functioned in the 6, was not at all what the performance minded folks who were clamoring for it actually wanted. Not too mention the performance folks wanted that and a stick.

I think we are seeing that clash of old Mazda vs. the new (not my cup of tea) direction they want to go in.

Exactly.

 

[dougal]

They don't need to 'replace' the 3. Again, even at it's EOL/5 years old, it's still their second best selling vehicle by a pretty wide margin. That's actually pretty impressive IMO and I'd wager a lot of the percentage decrease in sales YOY is due to those reasons (and competition catching up/newer models) more so than the CUV craze. (Though I'm sure it's having a small effect as well.)

Dropping car sales vs crossover sales or not, canceling it would just be dumb. And it would be canceled, as buyers already have the CX3/CX5 as CUV 'options' to the 3.

I would argue that the drop in sales has more to do with the general trend in the industry than the EOL status for the Mazda 3, but I agree with you that it is playing some role. We are waiting for the 2019 Mazda 3 with the Sky-X engine. Also, to make the CX-3 a replacement for the Mazda 3 would require the CX-3 to be enlarged.

We currently have a 2017 Mazda 3 that we love. But from a business perspective, putting significant resources into a model that has dwindling sales seems like a losing proposition. A company like Honda or Toyota can have cars with dwindling sales. The Mazda 3 and 6 in both USA and China - the two biggest auto markets - have dwindling sales. Will the refresh drive sales back to 100K in the USA and 150K in China?

I would love to see the margin on the different cars. I think I remember seeing somewhere (old data) that most Mazda 3 buyers purchased the base or touring model while most CX-5 buyers choose the GT level.

 

[J.R.]

Also, to make the CX-3 a replacement for the Mazda 3 would require the CX-3 to be enlarged.

Hence why I noted both the CX3 and CX5 as options.

 

[Xeler8ing]

Mazda6's sales figure simply proves my thinking: 2.5T won't improve sales. 2.5T is too big on displacement for a turbo hence the MPG suffers too much. The same would apply to the CX-5. Mazda really should add turbo on its 2.0L if they want to go this route!

Won't make a difference if they went down that path.

For what ever reason there, it isn't selling well.

As for here in Oz land, 289 were sold last month which is still in the usual 200-300 target even with the 2.5T because passenger car sales are continuing to decline due to SUV sales increasing along with ute (known as pick-up to you guys) sales

 

[dougal]

Hence why I noted both the CX3 and CX5 as options.

If they do this, they might have to change the CX-5 -as they would make them too similar.

https://www.motor1.com/news/265235/next-mazda-cx-3-rumors/