http://www.omniauto.it/magazine/7675...rcato-italiano

sorry it's in italian....but in synthesis this is the story:

Mazda Motor Italia (local importer 100% owned by MMEurope) will not import in "normal ways" the R3 (revised rx8), but only after specific request by customers


Motivation: slow sales (especially the last 2 years).

sad story......

 

As opposed to unusual ways like coming in as a crate of kit for self-assembling ala IKEA style?
If I am in Italy, there are alot more other car brands that would tease my palate.

 

well how many mazda's, let alone rx-8's, are sold in italy each year? doesn't strike me as a real mazda kinda place. more like a fiat uno kinda place, where 999997 out of 1000000 people drive fiat unos, and the other one drives ferrari, and the other one drives maserati, and the other one drives some other fiat product

 

mmmmm fiat 500??the new or the old ones??? piccolino

 

^you forgot lambo! 999997 drives Alfa Romeo(that 8C is sex, most other alfa's are **** anyway)/ Fiat. 1 drives Ferrari. 1 drives Maserati. 1 drives Lamborghini

that's actually not that far off the truth. When I went to Italy last year 65% were Fiat and Alfa. 10% were Italian super cars. 15% other European brands and the rest were unsurprisingly Toyota. With a tiny percentage of Honda and I saw 1. 1!!! Miata throughout the 10 days I was in Italy.

p.s I was everywhere in Italy, from Milan to Rome to Sicily to Vatican City

 

absolutely not.

Italians buy A LOT of german cars......fiat (with all marks) has just the 35% of market and it's strong only in small cars segments....sportscar are mainly germans....(ferrari aparts.........its' TOTALLY another story a Ferrari&Co.)

Mazda? i have 2 mazdas at my home (sorry just pistons) and plans to buy the third.

in Germany market share of Mazda it's about 2-2,5% (2007 figures) in Italy the half.

in France only 0,7% (but frenchs have UGLY car tastes )

 

Non ci credo!

 

100% true.

market share of Mazda in USA it's "just" 2-2,5 times that here in Italy......

 

Bah, well thats a shame. I'd love to take my 8 over to Abruzzo, near the coast. I've seen some awesome roads to speed on...too bad I was driving a Fiat Punto...

 

Most of the official press photos of euro spec Rx-8 (in 2003-4) was taken in Romagna (a zone southern Bologna,... birthplace of Valentino Rossi) (see pages 6 to 10)

http://www.netcarshow.com/mazda/2003-rx-8/07.htm

have seen some of those places with motorbike...nice place , few cars, lot of curves...medieval atmosphere

OT: in my city were shooted some pictures of Maserati granturismo S official pics.

 

some news:

NO mazda rx-8 (r3 or not) at Geneva 2009 @ Mazda booth

http://www.mazda.co.uk/MazdaLife/eve...tional-models/

I think that buy a rx-8 R3 outside UK will be a problem here in EU

the absence @ Geneve it's a clear message IMHO.

 

when i was in italy, them little scooters sure outnumbered cars there. Quite the kamikaze style riders too!
RX-8 would be sweet driving in some roads in Tuscany or Amalfi coast. Too bad all I had was a Fiat Punto. Even with 20hp, it drove better than the rental Cobalt here. On the Autostrada, it netted a stunning ~3l/100km! No wonder electric cars never took off in Europe.

 

ok, you have disclosed a BIG industrial secret: small cars of Fiat are OK. (say it to Chrysler )

medium and big cars (excluding exotics) are shitty instead


(by the way, one of my Mazdas it's a new 2....)

 

I think in August rx-8 R3 will be here at Greece(we are 5.500 rx8 owners ),so you can come for holidays and leaving to order a rx8

 

Given the price of gas in Europe in general I'm surprised they ever sold them there at all. Rotary fun is a whole nuther dimension expensive there!

 

The real reason is not because of sales but because of mazda italia's assistance.
They replaced hundreds of engines without reason (i.e instead of cleaning them or replacing faulty coils\oil pumps etc) so they had to spend 12000€ per engine (engine+labor and taxes) instead of replacing the real faulty parts or simply cleaning them.
Zoom zoom cleaner is not imported here and they don't know how to solve problems with rotaries in general. There's no remanufacturing here either, every new engine is brand new from mazda japan.
I have a couple of dealerships here in Rome that call me to solve rotary problems

 

why Mazda Motor Europe don't build a facility for rotaries here in EU?...there is a plenty of 7's and 8's.....
and invest more on teachin' technicians
Things that i don't understand...........

 

You know where we live...
Btw, chi sei? (who are you?)

 

non faccio parte della tribe

ho una 6 MPS.

 

great car and good choice not to write there.

 

why?

if i'm interested to an R3?

 

if you were interested in an r3 you could import it through mazda italia with a special order or simply buy it in germany
Then... why should we even bother about that board when there's this one?

 

Was not aware you could buy the new Series II 8 R3 in Germany as they are not advertising it..

http://www.mazda.de/Showroom/RX-8/?_...del=Mazda_RX-8

I only think in Europe you can get it from the UK, Russia and Spain.

 

That sucks, maybe you can get them via special order too there, as you can do here.
Anyway we (italy) never had a big rotary culture, sa22c rx7 were sold in an outstanding number of 20, a bit less than 50 fc3s turbo II (no s4, only s5 models and 1 convertible turbo II, no NA cars) and not so many fd3s. This sucks.

 

FD had a special period of interest in Italy, in 1994 Mazda in Milan sold 3 o 4 cars to Milan Soccer club players and the trainer (Arrigo Sacchi)....at that time i have seen tv coverages of soccer with mr. Sacchi w/ his black FD .

Rx-8 it's the major succes of rotary (or less insucess ) here in Italy...no doubt.....