Seeing first the Tokyo Auto Show coverage then quickly followed by the LA Auto Show coverage has pushed me over the edge. I'm simply just more than a bit pissed at Mazda. This is the headline that finally did it - "CX-9 wins again: SEAMO Family Car of the Year"


Seems like almost every auto maker on the planet has new fun cars being shown across the spectrum of auto shows around the globe. They spring forth ready to roll or almost ready to go from the like of Lotus, BMW, Honda, GM, Mercedes, Audi, Nissan, etc., and fer gosh sakes even freaking Hyundai has a new sports car & killer sports car concept!

The only companies that don't have something new to hook consumers up with - in my rant mood anyway - whether for show or for go is Mazda and it's sad big brother Ford.

All Mazda has given us this year (or has it been a few years) is a bunch of concepts with flapping wings (or something) and oh yes the recent mysterious 16x mockup that they have yet to figure out the details on. And lest we not forget the actually beautiful Kabura concept that would be cool if anyone actually thought we could buy one this decade - or if anyone will care by the time it may arrive - after way too many derivatives have flooded the market from every other car maker in existence.

It pisses me off that the car company that I like just sits in the middle of the road like a dear in the headlights, appearing like road kill in the Zoom-Zoom market they've tried to create - as the automotive world screams ahead with higher performance cars they actually put to metal.

Aside from the nip-tuck MS3, and the yawn MX-5, the only things Mazda seems good at is artificial insemination of station wagon genes into an elephant giving birth to the opportunistic 'development' of big and bigger American only "crossovers", the CX-7 and CX-9. All hail the SEAMO Family Car of the Year"


End of rant

 

All the car companies you listed are much much bigger than Mazda. Maybe theres why.
________
RedHead cam

 

yeat but where the hell is the rx-8 facelift that was listed to be shown at the tokyo autoshow. it flat up vanished like fart in the wind.

 

so a Turbo Charged Suv like the CX-7 isn't up your alley?

How about MOTOR TREND SUV of the year CX-9.
Have you seen the Aussie version of the MS-3?! It kicks the **** out of all its competition and is priced cheaper.

You're right though, all these other companies are coming out with INNOVATIVE new "concepts" yet whose the only company out there with a Rotary Engine?
Oh, and nevermind that Mazda is way ahead of most of those when it comes to their new Hydrogen engines. You're right, Mazda is doing nothing...

 

You forget the new Miata MX5

How old is it now? 1 year. stop

 

No I didn't - you simply can't read. Perhaps a MS MX-5 would get some interest, but the NA - sorry, 166HP is barely enough power to be even interesting nowadays.

 

Preaching to the choir.

Mazda has fallen prey to a completely nepotist marketing department.
Their TV commercials should be a dead-giveaway to that factoid.
They have weakly attempted to cash in on their own "zoom zoom" idea by crushing the life out of it and deriving rather than evolving.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Mazda will, effectively, go away over the next decade or less because of their fear of marketing to their core customers.

 

Hey we're looking at a family hauler! CX-9 wins SEAMO?! Wahooo!!! So what kind of fun car did Honda showcase. Don't tell me it's a Civic aight.
How about VW? Toyota? Acura?

 

S2000.
GTI & R32.
Supra.
You got me on Acura.

 

The RSX-S

 

I disagree.
The only way Mazda 'goes away' in the next decade is if Ford doesn't get their act together and goes bad on the loans they secured by using part of MNAO as collateral.

 

They still will go away. They will just have new owners.

Besides they have the best hydrogen engine out there.

Once gas prices hit too high there will be a huge demand for Mazda's.

 

i still love my mazdas!!!

 

That's absurd. We are NOT core customers. The core customers are the folks driving 3's and 6's. We're more like bleeding edge customers.

The Mazda lineup really hasn't changed that much over the last 20 years. The CX-7 and CX-9 are actually more novel than, say, another 3, another 6, another minivan, another Escape, another miata, and another rotary powered sports car.

Mazda has given us plenty of reason to believe that there will be another rotary in 2-3 years -- so wait your turn.

 

I'll blame Ford for the lack of cool new stuff

 

Well said- we are no more a "core customer" to Mazda than Corvette owners are to Chevrolet. The bread and butter will be the 3s and 6s as you mentioned. BTW, I had my 8 serviced today and got a 6 as a loaner. This family sedan happens to have some very good driving dynamics. In any case, crossovers are where the action is in today's mass market and Mazda does build some interesting ones.

 

yes, the 6 is very nice, my friend has one, and for only being 2.3, it has a lot of torque, and has good handling

 

Not to mention, by making all kinds of money on the crossovers, they free up more funds for R&D, which results in better products. This is wishful thinking on my end, but perhaps the 16x will be relatively competitive in terms of horsepower, or at least driving dynamics. Even though the 8 is lacking a little power from the factory, they scored big and it STILL beats most competitors when taking everything into account, DESPITE its age as a platform.

I'm not gonna hold my breath and wait for the 16x of course, but I will be interested in seeing the final application of it.

 

power isnt everything... elise uses a 190 hp engine if I recall correctly, and I'd say that's an interesting car.

 

And an Elise is what maybe 1/2 the weight of an MX-5? THATS what makes it interesting!

 

"Core" does not equal "mass market". Core (customer and car) is who Mazda refers to in all their advertising saying "The heart of a sports car...in every bla bla bla ... zoom zoom zoom". These "Core values" are what Mazda wants their mass market buyers to fantasize about their everyday cars (having bought a CX-9 or Mazda 6 say) while driving their 2.3 kids to school or soccer practice.

If the mass market buyer (who isn't stupid) can't really find much "zoom zoom zoom" somewhere recognizable to them from Mazda, Mazda's whole marketing gimmick goes "POOF"! If us 'core customers' have little new product to buy, no one will see zoom zoom in Mazda cars anymore....instead it'll become more known as a slightly edgier, rougher, cheaper Honda or Toyota.

IOW Mazda has to keep a known HALO CAR or cars front and center in the consumer mind or risk making their stupid song unbelievable... and I don't think they are doing a good job of it...even if I do consider an RX-8 or MX-5 a sports car myself. Most people don't know an RX-8 from a hole in the ground.

 

Brand new offerings. Not some old stuff.

Does it bother you that much? I'm just too busy smiling like a kid at a candy store driving my rx-8.

 

To be fair, the CX-9 is indeed a nice premium crossover.

 

At least (of the 3) Honda bothered to do something to spark a bit of interest in an old horse, and introduced a track version, much like Lotus and Nissan has. Where's our track version ? Hey I've got an idea - call it the RX-8 R-Spec!

Yea of course I'm still smiling after all these years....but "...the challenge of maintaining velocity in this car is ultimately more rewarding than relying on the gas pedal in the others to make up for your mistakes." DOES get a bit old too after what seems like the 10,000th time of patiently waiting for something rewarding to happen in 4th gear at WOT . And yea I know the solution but is FI better than waiting ... after so long? Questions, questions...

 

What do you think their core customers are? I don't see car enthusiest as ther core customers. They sold over 920K vehicles world wide in 2006, the RX-8 and MX-5 only made up 7.6% of that volume. Mazda is doing the right thing by focusing on their true core customer.