No New Mazda2 for the United States

[Traum]

Straight from the horse's mouth, yes. But I wouldn't be too disappointed.

1) The car is still available in sedan form as the Scion iA, even though it has an ugly gapping catfish mouth.
2) The car has already been federalized in terms of safety and crash standards, so as Mazda says, it really is there if Mazda ever needs it to be available.
3) IIRC, the DE Mazda2 wasn't available in the N.American market right off the bat either. It has already been around since 2007, but we didn't get ours until 2011.

Lastly, I still have a question -- is Toyota going to sell the hatch version as the Yaris? If it its, then there you go -- same hatch as the real Mazda2. Just that it'll probably get beaten with an ugly stick again. LOL~

 

[Font Motorsports]

The Scion iA is complete abomination.

 

[Font Motorsports]

Saw this coming a long time ago. Instead of taking it to the Ford Fiesta and Fiesta ST Mazda ( specifically Mazda US ) decides to be boring and only base their decisions on numbers that belong to the old Mazda 2 and then apply it to the new Mazda 2. Which means they are not even willing to give it a chance. Mazda US again is undermining their own vehicle. They don't want to promote it or support it in the US. Mazda, specifically Mazda US is a big disappointment to me.

Mazda US will probably do the same thing it did with the previous version. Bring it over when it's already old.

 

[Font Motorsports]

Autoblog has reported it now as well. LINK.

Interesting comment i came across that does make sense.

"It'll always be there if we need it," Davis added, referring to the fact that the car has already passed federal safety and EPA tests in order to be sold in Puerto Rico."

There! You don't have to settle for the oddly looking Scion sedan Mazda2. Just buy the hatchback in PR and ship it over. In order to be sold in PR is has to be certified by EPA and meet Federal safety regulations so it will be completely legal to bring it over from PR and register it in your home State.

 

[Rdrcr]

Crazy. This has been a roller-coaster ride.

Mike

 

[Font Motorsports]

Funny how Mazda US thinks that it won't sell in the US. A new Mazda 2 which is arguably better looking, has more horses, definitely has a better interior and now would come with Skyactive engine with presumably 43mpg. It won't sell? When the Fiesta DOES sell? What?

 

[Font Motorsports]

It's coming to Canada apparently. It really irritates me that the US seems to always be the one that gets left out. I'm glad to see, atleast on Autoblog that most people are not happy with this decision.

 

[Font Motorsports]

Robert Davis, Mazda's senior VP of US sales operations

https://twitter.com/miataracer55

 

[Traum]

Rodrigo,

You may not like the fact that the SkyActiv Mazda2 isn't coming to the States, but from Mazda Corporate's point of view, it is an entirely rational decision. It isn't like they just decided that -- hey, we're gonna go piss off all the Mazda2 fans today and not sell our new Mazda2, even though it is a huge improvement over the previous gen car!

If you haven't done so, read the Mazda boss' comments again, namely:

- gas prices have been sufficiently cheap
- Mazda wants to focus on products that are more profitable for Mazda and its dealers

Now let's look at the US' current general vehicle preferences:

- they tend to buy bigger vehicles
- the subcompact SUV (a la HRV, CX-3, etc.) is the hot item among the smaller vehicles now
- in the US, Mazda tends to be a brand that doesn't register too well among the general public even though it has quite a core loyal fan base

A company's #1 goal is to be profitable -- specifically, the more profitable the better. If you know you generally only have a somewhat fixed group of buyers that will buy from you, would you rather have them purchase a vehicle that has a higher or lower profit margin? With the CX-3 and Mazda3 already in place, Mazda thinks / knows that they can more effectively steer their fan base towards those cars and turn in a bigger profit. Had the revamped Mazda2 been on sale, their assessment is that it will take sales away from these two cars, and that means lower overall profit.

Canada receives the Mazda2 because Canadian preferences are generally 1 size smaller when it comes to vehicles -- Quebec has an even more European preference, and probably prefers something 1.5 size smaller. So Mazda sells their SkyActive Mazda2 here, because they estimate that the CX-3 and Mazda3 can't attract Canadian buyers enough.

 

[Font Motorsports]

If Mazda is all about profit then why didn't it market the Mazda 2? Mazda had an almost non existent US marketing campaign. If a company doesn't support it's own model then how exactly will it make money? Now they're going to base future sales numbers for their new 2, which is notches above the current one, bases off of numbers from the old version? That doesn't make sense to me. I see no faith.

 

[BigBlueDart]

Well said, Traum. Exactly what I was understanding behind all this.

 

[Traum]

True, Mazda's ad campaign has almost always so appalling that it never ceases to amaze me how they can still stay in business.

The new 2 is certainly leagues and miles ahead of the old 2, but the market it targets is exactly the same -- people looking for an affordable small car. We might think it is a better car than the MINI, but in the minds of general consumers, they will continue to think the MINI is an upscale car while the 2 is "just an economy car". So it is at least reasonable to take the current sales number of the 2 as part of the consideration for the new car.

Besides, the more important point is -- Mazda wants to drive a higher per vehicle profit, and they think the Mazda2 is detrimental to that goal. They want to drive consumer focus to the CX-3 and Mazda3, and I agree this would likely result in a higher overall profit for them, compared to what would happen if the 2 is available in the States as well.

 

[DG_1234]

If Mazda is all about profit then why didn't it market the Mazda 2? Mazda had an almost non existent US marketing campaign. If a company doesn't support it's own model then how exactly will it make money? Now they're going to base future sales numbers for their new 2, which is notches above the current one, bases off of numbers from the old version? That doesn't make sense to me. I see no faith.

The previous post outlined why supporting the Mazda 2 (within the USA market) may not be Mazda's best strategy. Specifically, Mazda has made the decision to put the company advertising dollars behind its new CX-3 model which is more in line (than the Mazda 2) with American consumers tastes and demands.
Mazda is wisely targeting the two hottest sectors of the US automobile market, that is the crossover (CX-3) and compact SUV (CX-5) categories. This is a relatively small company trying to grow sales and profits. The best way to do that is to have a narrow (few models) and deep inventory of popular selling vehicles.

 

[DG_1234]

True, Mazda's ad campaign has almost always so appalling that it never ceases to amaze me how they can still stay in business.

The new 2 is certainly leagues and miles ahead of the old 2, but the market it targets is exactly the same -- people looking for an affordable small car. We might think it is a better car than the MINI, but in the minds of general consumers, they will continue to think the MINI is an upscale car while the 2 is "just an economy car". So it is at least reasonable to take the current sales number of the 2 as part of the consideration for the new car.

Besides, the more important point is -- Mazda wants to drive a higher per vehicle profit, and they think the Mazda2 is detrimental to that goal. They want to drive consumer focus to the CX-3 and Mazda3, and I agree this would likely result in a higher overall profit for them, compared to what would happen if the 2 is available in the States as well.

I disagree that Mazda's advertising is substandard. Currently, at least within the US market, Mazda is heavily advertising the CX-5 using innovative, creative television commercials.
Going forward I expect Mazda will heavily advertise its new CX-3 small crossover. Full size and small sedans ( such as the Mazda 3 and 6 ) are becoming dated , worn out vehicle categories. As the months and years go by more and more tall, good visibility spacious interior vehicles (crossovers and suvs) , are intriguing consumers and captivating new buyers. Mazda's current advertising is harmonious with this trend.

 

[damn potholes]

.

 

[124coupe]

I like the suggestion someone else made on another site. Since the car is already federalized why not sell it online as a special order vehicle through the Mazda website. No marketing dollars required. Some sort of dealer handling fee would have to be established to make it worth their while. I suppose dealers might balk due to parts and warranty support.

 

[DG_1234]

This link has probably already been posted , but here it is again . For the outside the USA markets, an outline of the 2016 Mazda 2 specs:

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/01/2016-mazda-2-delivers-a-bit-more-of-everything.html

In San Francisco, my home city, and I imagine other places where parking spaces are tight, the really small cars such as Smart, Fiat 500, and Mini Cooper are popular. Maybe Mazda will one day introduce a "micro compact" . If parking is top priority. the smaller the car the vehicle the better. That said , I don't know if there is enough demand (for tiny cars) to make entering this category a sensible decision for Mazda.