Hello European 8 owners:

I just returned from a 4,000 mile, 20-day European driving trip with my wife, taking delivery of her new Volvo S80T6. I have a question.

We took delivery of her car in Brussels, attended the Belgian GP while staying in Epen, NL; drove to Adenau, DE and took the car on the Nordschliefe; drove south along the Rhine and visited Frankfurt; took the autobahn south from Koblenz, DE to Basel, Lausanne and Montreux, CH; crossed the Alps on the col Gran St. Bernard; down the Val D'Aosta, IT to Cervinio, then around Milano to Como; then visited several Tuscan hilltowns while based in Cortona IT; drove further south around Rome and Naples, and made a complete lap of the Amalfi Highway; then back north through Umbria and Portofino; around Genoa and past Monte Carlo to Carpentras, FR; to Paris and finally back to Brugge, BEL and Brussels.

In all this time and all these miles, I saw exactly ONE RX8. It was on display on a Mazda dealer's lot in a small town on the east bank of the Rhine south of Koln. I saw a '67 Ferrari 330 2+2, and a '62 Maserati 3500 on the road, but not a single RX8!

Now the question: where were all you guys? Are 8s really this rare in Europe? I was really disappointed.

 

This isn't the first time I heard of this. A greek magazine over here made a trip with an 8 to Italy-France and back and not one 8 was seen. I will try to answer your question, but I will refer mainly to the countries I know: south europian, specifically Hellas and Italy.

First thing, Europe has many great car industries so competition is very high. US market is total different story that's why some of them don't even sell there (alfa romeo is struggling the last decade to meet US standards)
Then pricing. Jap cars here are more expensive than in the US, where the prices I believe are rediculous (you get the 8 for just 20k euros!). I believe Jap car makers make their cars according to what ppl in the US want. So italian-german-french cars are sometimes same price or lower, and since they cannot be beaten in quality, people often prefer them.
Then, maybe in the regions you visited, is the general idea. It might sound crazy to you: I have a friend in north Italy, where people are loaded. He liked the 8 a lot, but they are used to go around in SLs, bimmers, porsches and some crazy stuff many of us wouldn't even dream of! He told me cars like that 'just won't do' possibly meaning low class or something like that. I think its very stupid to judge cars like that.
Even here in my country you can see this: People buy a BMW or Audi, give lots of $ for a 150hp car and think they are god, just because of the badge on the hood, while I can smoke them with feathering the gas pedal. However, the 8 is respected now because of price/performance (taxes are low due to 1.3L engine) and sells good.
Just to help you get the image. Germany is considered the europian car paradise: rx8 33500euros (GT), boxster around 40000euros. Price difference is not that big...

 

Thanks for the thoughts, RM. I see that with the current exchange rate, the 8 costs between 25 and 30 percent more than in the US. But I saw a fair number of Mazda 3s (most being driven pretty spiritedly) as well as several Mazda 6 wagons, and a fair number of Hondas as well. And assuming the same price structure is in play for these models, maybe the mindset for the RX8s potential buyers really is the biggest factor, as you suggest.

The big Volvo was a fast, very comfortable long-distance tourer on our recent trip, but crossing the Alps, driving in Toscana, on the Amalfi highway and certainly lapping at the Ring, I was really wishing we were driving mt 8.

Have fun...

 

I just got back from my touring holiday with almost exactly the same route...

Rotterdam
Amsterdam
Bonn (past Koln / Dusseldorf)
Stuttgart
Basel
Gotthard
Como
Milan
Genoa
Along coast to Nice
Through cols on Route Napoleon to Lyon
Orleans
Versailles
Normandy

And I saw a total of two, both in Germany.

OTOH there are MILLIONS of 'em in the UK. The UK market just likes these cars.

Actually, I didn't see many sports cars at all, other than SLKs, except in Switzerland and Northern Italy. Even in Stuttgart I only saw the occasional 911 or Boxster.

My yellow fellow looked great parked outside the Swissotel Basel until some fool in a 612 came and parked right behind me! And even he said "nice car" to me. :D

 

I second that.

I spent 5 days in Athens and 10 days in France.

I saw 1 RX-8, that was in greece. Can't remember exactly where, but it was on the E96 bus route from the the airport to Pireaus. All I can remember about the place was that it had a lot of cafe-style restaurants and loads of traffic.

In France I traveled around 1500 miles. The guy at the Hotel in AMIENS, was shocked and hadn't seen one before. He didn't even now where a Mazda dealer was. Although he had seen a RX-7 before and knew the RX-7 had a rotary engine.

On the way to work and the way home I see about 4-5. Gees, they are too common

 

there are quite a few in greece too. value-for-money is good, mainly cause of the 1.3L engine... it's been days that I've seen 3-4 8s in my city and in athens, I dunno, we like jap cars too I guess

 

I am having mine delivered next week (supposedly), and I have recently been a bit disappointed because there are quite a few of them on the road here in the UK, so they are not as unique as they were 6-9 months ago.

 

Reading your posts, I can confirm this situation. I have been driving my 8 since December last year here in the Netherlands and I have never seen another 8 on the road.
Besides, of course, the meeings we organized, and at the dealers.
In France, last summer, we visited two Mazda dealers. The first one just closed (from 12.00 - 15.00 h!!!) and the second one was very unfriendly. He pointed us out of the showroom for we did not come to buy anything.
Mazda has sold over 18.000 8ths in Europe. It should not be so hard to see one on the roads here.........

 

I agree with Zevans' observation about the general lack of sports cars, at least in terms of what I saw. The Nurburgring was the obvious exception, where you basically had to walk on Porsche 911s to get to the cafe. The fast traffic in Germany and Italy seemed to be made up of the larger BMW, Audi and Mercedes models, plus Alfas of every description. But aside from a couple of Miatas and a Ferrari 355 around Genoa, almost NO sportscars.

 

Mazda can only blame themselves, the 8 costs 51300 US$ in Sweden, too much.
I wonder how many would be sold in the US for that price?
Anyway I read that 115 RX8s been sold here...

 

Here=Sweden

 

I spent an entire day in my garage. Every time I turned around, I saw an RX-8 :D :D

Imported mine from Germany - spent more money on taxes than the vehicle itself .
Though - I saved about 12.000 euros. :p

 

Fleksnes, what ended you to pay with taxes? 70000US$?

 

Late answer, but nevertheless:
NOK 243 800, equivalent to US$ 38540

 

So, why is the '8 so expensive, seemingly throughout the EU - Greece and England apparently being the exception? Is VAT the reason? Does Mazda price the cars especially low in the USA market?

It's a shame really, because value versus price is one of the things Mazda has ALWAYS had in its favor in the USA - I've personally been driving them since 1980. The thing that makes it worse, of course, is the combination of the high European fuel prices and the low gearing on the 8, combining no doubt for a very high cost to run the car. I salute your enthusiasm, and envy your driving opportunities.