I had a lengthy chat with Mazda's CRM manager today and the official position for orders is as previously stated:

Current Delivery Expectation
Hi Power (Red/Black/Titanium/Silver) to be delivered September.
Lo Power (as above) to be delivered October.
Blue, Yellow,Green in November regardless of power.

Once vehicles are in production the dealers will have view of them and will be able to track them on boat, into port etc

We will be getting a letter with an update in the next week or so.

In July/August there will be days around the country where you can go and see the car. Expect contact from your dealer shortly.

From what I have been told, I would not be too worried regarding residual values. :)

The European press launch is taking place this week, and the UK equivalent in a month or so.

We also now know a lot more info that has recently been posted such as insurance, performance and fuel figures.

We know that the Prodrive day is to be in our own cars after delivery, and we all have a nice souveneir book.

We have a list of accessories that we should be able to buy and we know that brochures and price lists are being worked upon.

Cheers
Mark

Mark, I know theres a separate thread on residuals, and looking at the What Car? Website last night, I tracked the price of the 8 against the Audi TT 225 and the Subaru Impreza WRX STi over the 4 years.

Interestingly, after 4 years, the TT was still 55% I think and we were 38%, the Impreza was 43% (which was our figure after 3 years). The biggest drop % wise was year 1 where we went down to 65% of original after this time. Ouch.

I think I'll start a thread about paying for these things and how people intend to do it

I dont get that 1st year drop - surely demand will be high so short a time after a new, interesting car is launched.

I also don't believe the TT figure - it may be right for a car bought
3 years ago, but the TT is being replaced shortly and I think that will hit values of the existing model (one of the reasons I'm not buying one)...

I just had a chat with the CRM Manager too (Michael?). Very helpful and knowlegable. Told me the same - a consistent message is always good!

Ed

Hairyfrog - UK is TT biggets market, sell like hot cakes. Audi dealers are selling 1 year old cars at list price!

TT not being replaced but further models with different engines being released.

rael