UFOMX5

I think the RX8 will only be slightly more popular then the RX7...another niche car in its own right....maybe double the sales volume of the 7 (I hope I am wrong by a huge margin.) Those that never knew or heard of an RX7 will only be midly entertained by the RX8. Sadly sport car entusiast only make up a tiny wedge of the SUV, and boring car buying pie. The only problem is to make the RX8 cheap enough that the majority of people who desire one can actually get one in their garage. Otherwise it could quickly become an overpriced boutique car, and would miss the lesson in its own history. Hopefully they even make a Sport/stripper model club racer varient...bare bones track demon...lets go Mazdaspeed.

I doubt that this early concept sketch of the Vette will make it to production in its current guise. It looks way to f****d up to appeal to jocks and middle ages mid life crisis folks... maybe only a hair better looking then the 350z. Mazda is already making the right moves....the Protege5 kicks ****, smaller, and more nimble then the competition in its price range, the new Mazda 6 has everything it needs to take on the next round of Accord, current Camry and Ultima, and the RX8 will answer everyones wishes that did get to sample a 7, people like myself...thinking of having kids but not ready to buy a Matrix or a MiniVan. I've read Mazda invisions itself as the Japanese BMW, at least from an atheletic handling stand point. Honestly I feel lucky we are even looking at images on the web and in magazines of the RX8....glad FORD didn't burry this bueaty in the hunt for the next great segment buster.
~Nanda
92' Miata 195k smiles

Immi

Mazda considers themselves the Japanese BMW?

dude, thats funny

Mazda makes good cars man, but not great. For every model Mazda produces, I can give you atleast 10 other cars that are better. Sure their new line will compete, they said that about the millenia.. (ive seen like two). Personally, I've never given Mazda second looks. I'm only here because of one car, and one car only. I'm not here to make Mazda feel happy about their other models, personally I could careless. I want my RX-8 (cause indeed, it is truly a unique car). When I have that car, I'm not going to love mazda or anything and tell everyone they make hype cars.

red_base 95

Immi - I'll take you up on this challenge from above "Mazda makes good cars man, but not great. For every model Mazda produces, I can give you at least 10 other cars that are better. "
I'm not baiting, but you did seem to make a definitive statement of fact, so I'll try to refute it (or rather, make you confirm it). So, for every model that Mazda produces, name 10 cars that are better. And lets be realistic - Yes, a 3 series BMW is better than a Protege, but they aren't really competing for the same consumer. So here goes:

1) Miata - I don't think there are even 10 cars competing with the Miata. And let's be reasonable - a Ferrari 550 Spyder is not a competing model.

2) Protege5 - This car did just win a comparo in Car and Driver against the likes of Focus, Matrix, Vibe and PT Cruiser. I can't name 10 better cars than this Mazda model. I'd have a hard time naming 2.

3) Protege - This market segment is very competitive. Civic, corolla, sentra, lancer, neon, focus, cavalier, sunfire, golf, and a few others from Kia and Hyundai. The Civic has long been the benchmark for this segment, so I'll give you that one. The newest corolla is a good car as well (although some don't like the styling). The Focus is a terrific handling car, but the quality is far from acceptable. Most test drivers hated the seats and how they felt when in them. You'll be hard pressed to find 10 better cars in this segment.

4) Tribute - This is another crowded market with a lot of pretty good vehicles. Those that may be better - CRV, Rav4, Xterra. It's essentially a twin of the Ford Escape; so are there 7 other small SUV's better than the Tribute? good luck finding them.

5) 626 - you might actually have an argument here for 10 better cars, but I won't fully concede there are 10 better. Let's list some that one could argue to be better: camry, accord, altima, jetta are probably locks. The galant, taurus, malibu/impala, intrepid are on par. There are only 3 cars in this segement that offer a v6 and a manual transmission (626, Altima, and Dodge intrepid). There are some other pretty sorry cars the 626 competes against. I know there is a replacement coming soon, and I'll reserve judgement on it until it gets here. But it should gain some ground.

6) Millennia - I'll concede this one to you. That market has a lot of excellent cars right now, and the Millennia is not up to snuff.

I know there are other Mazda products to list. And I am not a huge Mazda fanboy. But they make great cars with style, function, and reliability.

Now just because you own or will own a Mazda product doesn't obligate you to praise every thing they make, but don't be so quick to discount some of the other cars thay make.

Immi

I do remember saying that. I do like the miata though. But the mr2 and for some extra money the s2000, z3 offer easy competition.

You have to realize that a companies income (and other stuff) reflect how much money they can actually invest in a car... Mazda hasn't shown (or has - but very little) profit. I do however see a better future for this company, that new CEO seems to know how to attract people.

Either way, to take gain a good take in the tough Japanese market will be literally impossible, Honda and Toyota have created themselves a sound foundation. Even if Mazda were to produce an excellent car it doesn't have the Honda/Toyota/Nissan tag behind - and mazda will probably get the short end of things again?!?

Also, I'll state again - I'm here for the Mazda RX8 - not any other models.