http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/01/bac...0502flint.html

Jerry decided to opine on the state of Mazda and its marketing strategy in general, which is IMO not totally correct but he does raise some valid points. The biggest issue I see he points out rather clearly – Mazda’s ability to cater to the preferences of the American market without losing your brand identity. Why car about American preferences? Well, to markedly improve their sales numbers in total, they have to be a success here.

Simply put, Mazda’s focus, for the most part is to create an enthusiast car. Mazda has more of these cars than any other Japanese manufacturer, and they have done pretty well recently at making money at it. The problem is, 90% of U.S. buyers are not enthusiasts, in fact they wouldn’t know a sporty car if it fell on them. I hate to admit it, but American taste in automobiles is responsible for the giant land barge approach to travel we all hate here.

Mazda’s challenge is how to reconcile this problem. I believe that they will make some serious inroads with their cross-over SUV’s, which are hitting the market at the perfect time, and are designed for Americans. The Mazda6 is a great car, but it was designed as a world car and therefore wasn’t as big as it needed to be here. I believe Mazda will fix this buy making the 2nd gen larger to really compete with the Camry and Accord. As more money pours in, Mazda gets to spend money on distinctly American designs. At least Mazda, unlike Toyota, wasn’t saddled with all these true truck based SUVs, which have peeked in sales.

The other trend I think Jerry missed is that the US market as a whole is moving to smaller vehicles in general, which should bode well for Mazda and Honda, who are more car focused.

Let us pray in all this Mazda doesn’t forget about us enthusiasts, I don’t expect every vehicle to be a sports car, but don’t keep the pantry bare either.