News Flash - Mazda CX5 Competitors

[Lbear]

I have been seeing a lot of comparisons of the Mazda CX5 to vehicles pushing close to $100k like the BMW X5, 1 ton tow trucks and 400HP+ sport cars.(bang)

So here is the list of who the Mazda CX5 is competing with:

Honda CRV
Ford Escape
Chevy Trax
Kia Sportage
Subaru Forester
Toyota Rav 4
Nissan Rogue

So please try and compare apples to apples.

 

[jjac28]

I have been seeing a lot of comparisons of the Mazda CX5 to vehicles pushing close to $100k like the BMW X5, 1 ton tow trucks and 400HP+ sport cars.(bang)

So here is the list of who the Mazda CX5 is competing with:

Honda CRV
Ford Escape
Chevy Trax
Kia Sportage
Subaru Forester

So please try and compare apples to apples.

and Nissan Rogue (boom03)

 

[halfast3]

...and Toyota Rav 4...?

 

[yrwei52]

I have been seeing a lot of comparisons of the Mazda CX5 to vehicles pushing close to $100k like the BMW X5, 1 ton tow trucks and 400HP+ sport cars.(bang)

So here is the list of who the Mazda CX5 is competing with:

Honda CRV
Ford Escape
Chevy Trax
Kia Sportage
Subaru Forester

So please try and compare apples to apples.

Yeah, compare the same compact CUV's. The top sellers sold 3 times more than CX-5's in the US:

Honda CR-V U.S. Sales
2012 281,652 <- New 4th Gen
2013 303,904 +22,252 + 7.90%
2014 335,019 +31,115 +10.24%
2015 345,647 +10,628 + 3.17% <- Facelift

Toyota RAV4 U.S. Sales
2012 171,877
2013 218,249 +46,372 +26.98% <- New 4th Gen
2014 267,698 +49,449 +22.66%
2015 315,412 +47,714 +17.82%

Ford Escape U.S. Sales
2012 261,008 <- New 3rd Gen
2013 295,993 +34,985 +13.40%
2014 306,212 +10,219 + 3.45%
2015 306,492 +280 + 0.09%

Nissan Rogue U.S. Sales
2012 142,349
2013 162,751 +20,402 +14.33%
2014 199,199 +36,448 +22.39% <- New 2nd Gen
2015 287,190 +87,991 +44.17%


Bottom sellers:

Subaru Forester U.S. Sales
2012 76,347
2013 123,592 +47,245 +61.88%
2014 159,953 +36,361 +29.42% <- New 4th Gen
2015 175,192 +15,239 + 9.53%

Mazda CX-5 U.S. Sales
2012 43,319 <- New 1st Gen
2013 79,544 +36,225 +83.62%
2014 99,122 +19,578 +24.61%
2015 111,450 +12,328 +12.44% <- Facelift

 

[sillyxone]

Talking about RAV4, quick question: somebody (yrwei52?) mentioned that the CX-4 might have problem selling in China as number 4 reads like "death" in Chinese. How does the RAV4 do in Chinese market, is it even available there, with same name?

I read that the CX-5 is more success in Australia?

 

[fdew]

The best anything is rarely the most popular.

 

[jhu8]

Yeah, compare the same compact CUV's. The top sellers sold 3 times more than CX-5's in the US:

Honda CR-V U.S. Sales
2012 281,652 <- New 4th Gen
2013 303,904 +22,252 + 7.90%
2014 335,019 +31,115 +10.24%
2015 345,647 +10,628 + 3.17% <- Facelift

Toyota RAV4 U.S. Sales
2012 171,877
2013 218,249 +46,372 +26.98% <- New 4th Gen
2014 267,698 +49,449 +22.66%
2015 315,412 +47,714 +17.82%

Ford Escape U.S. Sales
2012 261,008 <- New 3rd Gen
2013 295,993 +34,985 +13.40%
2014 306,212 +10,219 + 3.45%
2015 306,492 +280 + 0.09%

Nissan Rogue U.S. Sales
2012 142,349
2013 162,751 +20,402 +14.33%
2014 199,199 +36,448 +22.39% <- New 2nd Gen
2015 287,190 +87,991 +44.17%


Bottom sellers:

Subaru Forester U.S. Sales
2012 76,347
2013 123,592 +47,245 +61.88%
2014 159,953 +36,361 +29.42% <- New 4th Gen
2015 175,192 +15,239 + 9.53%

Mazda CX-5 U.S. Sales
2012 43,319 <- New 1st Gen
2013 79,544 +36,225 +83.62%
2014 99,122 +19,578 +24.61%
2015 111,450 +12,328 +12.44% <- Facelift

All you ever do is harp on the sales factor. Does quantity equal quality? No, that's what I thought. Sales doesn't mean Jack. Get over it. Maybe you should sell your cx5 and follow the rest of the world and just buy a Honda or Toyota. You seem to be so affected by the amount of sales the cx5 has. I'm sorry you're that swayed.

I completely agree with the OP though. I'd like to think the crazy comparisons stem from the fact that the cx5 is miles ahead of those listed in the OP as far as a driving vehicles. So naturally the cx5 is than compared to more premium vehicles.

 

[sillyxone]

Here's the sale story of my wife's 2014 Accord Sport. There was a Honda promotional event with $1,000 rebate. My wife's colleague just got one, told her, and I didn't even have a chance to check if it's what she would want (her car at the time was '99 Camry). With a short test drive, we both thought it's OK, and the Camry was long due for replacement, so my wife decided on the Accord. My brother-in-law, heard of the deal, arrived at the same dealer for one. Then, he called his sister-in-law, who arrived shortly after for another one. So, in just 2 hours, 4 Accord's were sold. At least three of the customers didn't know anything about the car, except for a 10-minute test drive.

My wife has long commute to work, hers is almost 30K miles, while my brother-in-law's is still less than 1K.

When it's time to replace my '99 Civic, of course I spent 2 months researching to finally pick the CX-5 (never had a Mazda before, we've been Toyota/Honda). It's what I wanted, I was even reading this whole forum before deciding on it. If I wasn't thinking of the environment, I probably drive the CX-5 around a lot more everyday just for fun (not really a tree hugger, just trying to minimize my impact where I can).

 

[Lbear]

Yeah, compare the same compact CUV's. The top sellers sold 3 times more than CX-5's in the US:

So what? The Toyota Corolla sells more cars than the Mazda sedan lineup but have you ever driven one? They are soulless vehicles. All the car mags agree that the Corolla is just Point A to Point B vehicle and dull to drive. The car mag editors are car guys. They speak highly of the Mazda lineup and they love the CX5. It's a drivers car.

Are you taking the place of MikeM?

 

[yrwei52]

So the OP wanted us to compare the competitors to the CX-5. I compare the US sale figures among all compact CUVs. They're all CX-5's competitors, what's wrong with that? If you're not willing to face the fact and bury your head in the sand on low sales volume for CX-5 in the US market, how are you going to improve the sales? I don't buy "the best anything is rarely the most popular" talk. Mazda will be thrilled if the face-lifted 2016 CX-5 had 44.17% sales increase like Nissan Rogue did last year!

I personally persuaded 6 friends and families bought CX-5 for the past couple of years, including my wife who desperately wanted a Lexus. How many CX-5's have you helped to get sold by your recommendations? I heard all the complaints and suspicions against Mazda from friends and families. See if you recommend them a Honda Accord, they all go for it without hesitation. Do you guys know why?

All I ever do is harp on the sales factor? I believe I just helped a member solving EU certification issue in Luxembourg. Recently I also helped several members finding a good source of getting the JDM rear-seat headrests. I wrote a couple of How-To's. I'm trying to help forum members as much as I can if I know something they don't know. I don't mind to criticize the issues on CX-5. I don't mind people compare vehicles in different league or even give up on his/her CX-5 for different reasons. I don't do personal attacks just because you have different opinions than mine. I'm also here trying to learn more things I don't know.

Compare me to that guy, it's an insult!

 

[xtrailman]

And the Tucson.

 

[Unobtanium]

All you ever do is harp on the sales factor. Does quantity equal quality? No, that's what I thought. Sales doesn't mean Jack. Get over it. Maybe you should sell your cx5 and follow the rest of the world and just buy a Honda or Toyota. You seem to be so affected by the amount of sales the cx5 has. I'm sorry you're that swayed.

I completely agree with the OP though. I'd like to think the crazy comparisons stem from the fact that the cx5 is miles ahead of those listed in the OP as far as a driving vehicles. So naturally the cx5 is than compared to more premium vehicles.

No, it's compared to them because people cross-shop through the strata sometimes. Comparatively, the CX-5 lags behind its competitors in everything but acceleration and handling, from the reviews I've seen. The 2016 certainly helped close the luxury gap, but the NAV is absolute crap, and it has a few other foibles, as well. It is far from "miles ahead" of any of those competitors except in driving dynamics, which may/may not matter to the potential owner (as evidenced by sales numbers).

"I can afford an X1 of GLK350, but the CX-5 gets it done and I'd really like to also buy that Jet Ski...

...and thus you have your cross-strata shopper.

^This is where the driver spends their time. CX-5 looks like "just another choice, but not as nice as some of the others". And THAT is more important to most buyers than "How tossable is this family hauler when I want to hit the apexes?!" If that were all that mattered, the Camaro would take all of the Mustang sales. The Challenger wouldn't sell at all. The Honda Oddessy would be the only mini-van that ever made a sale. The V6 RAV4 would have dominated the sales charts and not been discontinued. Etc. etc. etc. But the truth is, most CUV buyers could give a damn. That is why Mazda didn't bother making a sporty version of the CX-5 like Subaru did the Forester. THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH SALES TO MERIT IT. That is why they aren't putting a turbo in the CX5. Noone cares, or at least, not enough of someone to even worry with. The thing was designed with a 2.0L that garnered universal complaint over its sluggishness, because Mazda didn't really think it was going to be sold to people who were comparing it on its athleticism, but rather on its practicality. They went too far, though, and the 2.5L got put in soon after. Thus, even mazda's marketing seems to not favor "sporting ability".

 

[fdew]

^This is where the driver spends their time. CX-5 looks like "just another choice, but not as nice as some of the others". And THAT is more important to most buyers than "How tossable is this family hauler when I want to hit the apexes?!" If that were all that mattered, the Camaro would take all of the Mustang sales. The Challenger wouldn't sell at all. The Honda Oddessy would be the only mini-van that ever made a sale. The V6 RAV4 would have dominated the sales charts and not been discontinued. Etc. etc. etc. But the truth is, most CUV buyers could give a damn. That is why Mazda didn't bother making a sporty version of the CX-5 like Subaru did the Forester. THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH SALES TO MERIT IT. That is why they aren't putting a turbo in the CX5. Noone cares, or at least, not enough of someone to even worry with. The thing was designed with a 2.0L that garnered universal complaint over its sluggishness, because Mazda didn't really think it was going to be sold to people who were comparing it on its athleticism, but rather on its practicality. They went too far, though, and the 2.5L got put in soon after. Thus, even mazda's marketing seems to not favor "sporting ability".

You almost nailed it. different people want different things. Chevrolet is selling there vehicles based on there WiFi They never showing them moving. Just a pleasant place for the family. Lately they are selling based on the cars ability to watch the driver and report to the owner how it is being driven. That's OK, people want that stuff. but not all.

Some of us want a small SUV that is tossable when we want to hit the apexes. Not all, not most, but some of us.

I don't mind that some companies sell a media room on wheels I don't even care that most people want that. I want handling even if I need to drive a SUV and I am very glad that Mazda understands that market and sells to it. BTW The 2.0 handled very well. It didn't have enough power for many people but power is not handling. Fast acceleration is fun. Good handeling is fun but they are not the same thing and many vehicles have one and not the other. You can keep telling us over and over that the CX-5 is just a box to move stuff. I have a test that trumps your statements. I drive it, it makes me smile. I drive it hard on back roads and it makes me grin. I push it hard on those back roads and I laugh out loud. The CX-5 is FUN I love it, and your stuck with it.

ZOOM ZOOM

 

[Unobtanium]

You almost nailed it. different people want different things. Chevrolet is selling there vehicles based on there WiFi They never showing them moving. Just a pleasant place for the family. Lately they are selling based on the cars ability to watch the driver and report to the owner how it is being driven. That's OK, people want that stuff. but not all.

Some of us want a small SUV that is tossable when we want to hit the apexes. Not all, not most, but some of us.

I don't mind that some companies sell a media room on wheels I don't even care that most people want that. I want handling even if I need to drive a SUV and I am very glad that Mazda understands that market and sells to it. BTW The 2.0 handled very well. It didn't have enough power for many people but power is not handling. Fast acceleration is fun. Good handeling is fun but they are not the same thing and many vehicles have one and not the other. You can keep telling us over and over that the CX-5 is just a box to move stuff. I have a test that trumps your statements. I drive it, it makes me smile. I drive it hard on back roads and it makes me grin. I push it hard on those back roads and I laugh out loud. The CX-5 is FUN I love it, and your stuck with it.

ZOOM ZOOM

To be quite fair, I have yet to drive a vehicle that I cannot have fun in. That includes the Nissan LEAF I was given as a rental, although the low charge I left the lot in precluded much fun, I bet I could have had fun with it, too, if I had a day or two or a full charge!

 

[sillyxone]

CX-5 looks like "just another choice, but not as nice as some of the others".

I think look is totally subjective, you can't based it on just your opinion and decide the market would see the same. To me, the CX-5 interior is the most beautiful among the bunch, minimalist yet elegant. The layout of the five buttons around the knob is so natural, my five fingers have no problem pressing the corresponding buttons without looking down. Although there're volume buttons on the steering wheel, it's the one on the console that I use 99% of the time since it's already at my finger tip when I rest my right arm there.

Even the steering wheel is elegant, the buttons on it are arranged logically and beautifully. The screen has great visibility and is carefully placed to minimize outside reflection. I design websites and photography is my hobby, so I probably have a different perspective/expectation, but I'm happy to look at the CX-5 inside and outside everyday.

 

[Unobtanium]

I think look is totally subjective, you can't based it on just your opinion and decide the market would see the same. To me, the CX-5 interior is the most beautiful among the bunch, minimalist yet elegant. The layout of the five buttons around the knob is so natural, my five fingers have no problem pressing the corresponding buttons without looking down. Although there're volume buttons on the steering wheel, it's the one on the console that I use 99% of the time since it's already at my finger tip when I rest my right arm there.

Even the steering wheel is elegant, the buttons on it are arranged logically and beautifully. The screen has great visibility and is carefully placed to minimize outside reflection. I design websites and photography is my hobby, so I probably have a different perspective/expectation, but I'm happy to look at the CX-5 inside and outside everyday.

NAV with no traffic update.
Tether the phone instead of actual satellite radio.
No proximity tone/warning or predictive path when turning for the back-up camera.
They finally got remote start, standard on the higher trim levels, right? Rain and speed sensing wipers? Laser cruise control, adaptive?

Definitely not as nice as the competition when it comes to features. Interior look/feel of course is subjective, but the CX-5 is pretty feature-light.

 

[X5actor]

No, it's compared to them because people cross-shop through the strata sometimes. Comparatively, the CX-5 lags behind its competitors in everything but acceleration and handling, from the reviews I've seen. The 2016 certainly helped close the luxury gap, but the NAV is absolute crap, and it has a few other foibles, as well. It is far from "miles ahead" of any of those competitors except in driving dynamics, which may/may not matter to the potential owner (as evidenced by sales numbers).

"I can afford an X1 of GLK350, but the CX-5 gets it done and I'd really like to also buy that Jet Ski...

...and thus you have your cross-strata shopper.

^This is where the driver spends their time. CX-5 looks like "just another choice, but not as nice as some of the others". And THAT is more important to most buyers than "How tossable is this family hauler when I want to hit the apexes?!" If that were all that mattered, the Camaro would take all of the Mustang sales. The Challenger wouldn't sell at all. The Honda Oddessy would be the only mini-van that ever made a sale. The V6 RAV4 would have dominated the sales charts and not been discontinued. Etc. etc. etc. But the truth is, most CUV buyers could give a damn. That is why Mazda didn't bother making a sporty version of the CX-5 like Subaru did the Forester. THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH SALES TO MERIT IT. That is why they aren't putting a turbo in the CX5. Noone cares, or at least, not enough of someone to even worry with. The thing was designed with a 2.0L that garnered universal complaint over its sluggishness, because Mazda didn't really think it was going to be sold to people who were comparing it on its athleticism, but rather on its practicality. They went too far, though, and the 2.5L got put in soon after. Thus, even mazda's marketing seems to not favor "sporting ability".

Ok the one in the middle looks nice! hahaha

Well, I chose the CX5

 

[Unobtanium]

Ok the one in the middle looks nice! hahaha

Well, I chose the CX5

Yep. I do think the AWD of the CX-5 is a major selling point. A large portion people where I live don't bother with FWD vehicles of this nature, based on what I see in parkinglots,etc. The CRV and RAV4 have a junk AWD system, IMO, except for the RAV's ability to lock it up below 25mph.

 

[sillyxone]

NAV with no traffic update.
Tether the phone instead of actual satellite radio.
No proximity tone/warning or predictive path when turning for the back-up camera.
They finally got remote start, standard on the higher trim levels, right? Rain and speed sensing wipers? Laser cruise control, adaptive?

Definitely not as nice as the competition when it comes to features. Interior look/feel of course is subjective, but the CX-5 is pretty feature-light.

What are you talking about?

Seriously, of the four people who bought the Accord that I know, pairing the phone to the car via Bluetooth is the most advanced feature that they use. Of my two in-law families driving 4 CR-Vs, one of them don't even bother pairing the phone to the car, let alone using cruise control or other features. They don't read the user manual just once, and don't even know what features are available to them.

OEM remote start has the bad rap of being expensive with short range. Third-parties like Viper and Compustar have always been better choices, so that's moot.

 

[silvercoat]

Looking at these three, here is what I see and I have experienced.
Toyota: Interior has some odd design choices (cup holder under dash WTF?). Boxier feel more like an SUV I suppose. Most complaints on the Rav4 I have seen are that it is boring to drive.
Honda: A good solid CUV that I have considered. Again the complaint from most is that it is boring to drive. Lack of manual auto-shift and "sport modes" are telltale there. Then again Honda's market for this is mostly reliable and functional. A good choice otherwise.
Mazda: Interior has a very sedan like feel. It has a sport mode, optional paddle shifters, and manual auto-shift. They did not go crazy with multiple sash screens or overly complicated gauges. They kept some of the Zoom-Zoom attitude but went a bit crazy on the sky active. The 2.0L is best described as "adequate" but most folks find the 2.5L feels "more like a small CUV should". A turbo at this point is a long push but I think it would sell if they market their SPEED line accordingly if they ever do it again.

But yeh overall if you look at sales numbers, Mazda has always been the smaller of the 3 and more of a niche market.