My wife and I went to the Columbus auto show today and I was disapointed with the Mazda display. Even Thought I have a velocity red 8 I wanted to at least see some different color 8's at the show. I was hoping they would have a white one on display but all they had was a red. I don't undestand why Mazda is not pushing this car. Sorry performance for Mazda at this show.

 

Most of the non-major car shows are setups by the local dealerships. They bring in a few show cars and race cars for fun, but mostly it's local dealer stock. Our show is set up so the dealers share the floor under manufacturer's umbrellas rather than by dealership. I've noticed there is never more than one of any car, and they're pretty evenly spread by dealership. Nobody gets to monopolize the show.

Here, they had a white base model for the 8 - I guess they wanted to show off the color, and it was the only white in the area.

 

No offense, but I doubt the Columbus autoshow registers on too many carmaker's radars. Like G-Rex mentioned, it is mainly a dealership showcase (ie. effort to increase auto sales).

 

The Columbus show registers enough to get some the manufacturer concepts that are touring car shows. But I think its true that the local dealers pretty much pick cars from their stock for the show.

Still, white (pearl or not) would be my last choice for an RX8 show car.

 

At the Pittsburgh Auto Show they had a Shinka on a platform with it's drivers side doors open. There weren't any other 8's there.(Made me feel special to think that I drive a car that they would rope off at a show :D ) It sort of seems like Mazda is skimping on the 8, with the MazdaSpeed 6 being quicker. Are there any rumors/plans for a MazdaSpeed 8?

 

There's a very limited production MazdaSpeed RX8 available in Japan.

http://www.mazda.co.jp/automesse/200...ils/rx8_2.html

 

I know where the white 8 was :p

I went to the Minneapolis Autoshow today...it is at the Minneapolis Convention Center which fortunately is next door to where I work so I saved minimum $10 on parking.

The Mazda display was kind of dissapointing, I got to thoroughly check out the Mazdaspeed 6

There were 2 RX-8s there a Red Stick and a White Auto.

I also got a nice upfront tour of the Chrysler ME 4-12 and the Porsche Carrera GT...both beautiful...the chrysler is outstanding

I showed up on Friday when they were setting up and the new Saturn convertible was being put on display and so the guy let me sit in it, look around, open things, etc. really this car will hurt the Miata sales but that said there is definitely a cheap feel to it. The back end looks great, the front is overdone and looks like a GM unfortunately.

 

I agree that the "smaller" shows don't necessarily bring in much of the good stuff from outside the local area. Although, at the DC autoshow earlier this year Mazda had a fairly broad display of their cars. In talking at length to the MNAO people at the show, it was apparent that a cadre of their people travel from show to show, but that most, if not all, of the cars are from local dealers. In other words, I don't think Mazda brings in cars for these shows for the most part. I would guess that since Mazda is a relatively small company they have a marketing budget to match, which is probably no where near what it is for the larger companies.

 

Took my son to the Columbus show yesterday. Kinda what I expected from this cow-town. All the mini-vans, accents and corollas you could want.

Think you could find a new Miata (or even an old one)? Or a Sky? Forget it - shameless dealer self-promotion.

Next time I'll drive to Detroit - or fly to Geneva!

 

Just got back form the Columbus Auto Show. To make matters worse, the car was on a display with signs to stay off of the display. This was largely ignored but the implication was Do Not Touch. I didn't even sit in it because of the sign. Yet 30 paces away sat a new 911 with no barrier/signs what so ever with 15 year olds waiting in line to sit in it and drool on the drivers seats. Go figure.