Why is the Mazda brand still so "under the radar".
Discussion
I would love to see a proper return to form coming from Mazda's engineers on the sports side of the house. Generally seen as a reasonably sporty brand, sure - but they need something to really hang their hat on and go a bit more our there for me (ST/RS/GTI/R/VRS/etc.)
Maybe just bring out one of the few concepts they've had, or bring back the RX cars? With or without rotary, frankly that wasn't what sold me on them anyway. If they can bring out a ~300bhp four pot in a sporty coupe - I know, it's hardly inspired - it would do well to kick start that part of their image.
Attach a sporty sub-brand - MPS would do nicely - then take that engine and put it in some other models from their range, but with geometry and bodywork matching the MPS brand. I mean sure, anyone can do that and probably make it some success, but shouldn't Mazda do it before we forget the MPS that had a nice five-pot from Volvo, or the 4WD Mazda 6 MPS? Seemed like they were on to something there!
Maybe just bring out one of the few concepts they've had, or bring back the RX cars? With or without rotary, frankly that wasn't what sold me on them anyway. If they can bring out a ~300bhp four pot in a sporty coupe - I know, it's hardly inspired - it would do well to kick start that part of their image.
Attach a sporty sub-brand - MPS would do nicely - then take that engine and put it in some other models from their range, but with geometry and bodywork matching the MPS brand. I mean sure, anyone can do that and probably make it some success, but shouldn't Mazda do it before we forget the MPS that had a nice five-pot from Volvo, or the 4WD Mazda 6 MPS? Seemed like they were on to something there!
Price. The UK (and maybe Europe as a whole) seem to pay a fair bit for Japanese cars. In Australia the Mazda 3 sells by the truckload - yearly sales numbers here are slightly less than the units shifted for the whole of Europe. Which is no wonder when they are significantly cheaper than something European and we don't have any conditions which would promote rust. Add in the reliability and that's why the fly out the door. They also sell a huge number of CX5's.
rodericb said:
Price. The UK (and maybe Europe as a whole) seem to pay a fair bit for Japanese cars. In Australia the Mazda 3 sells by the truckload - yearly sales numbers here are slightly less than the units shifted for the whole of Europe. Which is no wonder when they are significantly cheaper than something European and we don't have any conditions which would promote rust. Add in the reliability and that's why the fly out the door. They also sell a huge number of CX5's.
Same in the USA. Mazda shifts a ton of 3's and CX-5 and CX-7 SUVs but in the USA they are competitive on price and financing options. Another Mazda supporter here. I have two already and would add a third if I could convince Mrs Pints to let us replace the Golf.
When I've suggested a Mazda to work colleagues, there's a look of disbelief as though they misheard me. I might as well suggest they drive a Daewoo. Very strange.
When I've suggested a Mazda to work colleagues, there's a look of disbelief as though they misheard me. I might as well suggest they drive a Daewoo. Very strange.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Mazda don't manufacture any cars in the UK either so they won't have the natural buy-in from that - look at toyota, honda, nissan - all jap white goods but have a halo car plus a pedigree of some sort. Mazda seem to have the odd random stab at a car (Rx8 being the last some 10+ years ago) then go back to white goods and the MX-5.
I do like them but I can't even remember when I last went past a mazda garage.
I do like them but I can't even remember when I last went past a mazda garage.
gazza5 said:
I like the mazda 6 - and have looked at getting one - main reason I won't is depreciation.
I know all cars do but I got a finance quote, and the guarenteed future value at 3 year old - £9k.
Looked at sports tourer auto 2.2 diesel top of the range - RRP £29k, can get one for £22k ish via broadspeed etc.
Thats still a sizeable chunk lost.
I bought a Sports tourer 2.2 manual, 1 year old from a dealer £19.5K, thats a sizeable chunk off.I know all cars do but I got a finance quote, and the guarenteed future value at 3 year old - £9k.
Looked at sports tourer auto 2.2 diesel top of the range - RRP £29k, can get one for £22k ish via broadspeed etc.
Thats still a sizeable chunk lost.
We also have a MX-5, 6 years old, bought from new. Cars are great, our local dealer is s
te though.My nice new sports tourer was carrying a fault - poor camshaft hardening, so after 25-35K miles the camshaft disintegrates. Known fault in the dealer network, our dealer said he'd done about 70 in the previous 6 months.
Thing is - it had been in for a full service and MOT 3 days before, hadn't run right since picking it up and was going back into them. You'd have thought, right age, engine number in the known problem group, they'd check the oil or something, but no. Whole new top end of engine, turbo, brake servo, under warranty, with a s
ty aygo as a replacement hire car as alternative.Or the faulty tyre pressure monitor that it went into them about 6 times but they didn't fix, which I fixed myself, damaged contact on the plug.
Or how about a new key for the mx-5 when we lost one. They couldn't programme it, insisted it was a faulty alarm/immobiliser and wanted £800 to fix, yet still charged my wife £255 for the key which was useless. Unable to unlock by fob, they expected us to unlock with the key, set the alarm off and clear it by turning the ignition on. The MX-5 owners club explained the procedure which took two mins to programme both keys.
Service manager suggested we go elsewhere if we weren't happy with their service. Didn't want to talk about the quality of their work or issues.
Cars are great, not sure about the dealers
They got removed from our co car list as no-one had ordered a Mazda in years. The wife had a Mazda 2 1.5 "Sport", which was a lovely little thing.
The Mazda 6 is a good alternative to the usual German option, but I don't think they're chasing fleet sales, hence their monthly cost is prohibitive for many (The P11d value is also quite high from memory)
The Mazda 6 is a good alternative to the usual German option, but I don't think they're chasing fleet sales, hence their monthly cost is prohibitive for many (The P11d value is also quite high from memory)
I think they are ''ok'' cars, obviously better than any of the french crap or ford/opel stuff, but they are not true japanese - they are bargain basement ''japanese'' cars which actually don't cost that little..
the only thing that puts me off of them is the RUST, I have seen 6-7year old mazdas which have already rusted out
You can't possibly pick up a 10+year old mazda which hasn't turned to rust bucket..other than that they provide excellent value for money and rather reliable motoring if it wasn't for the rust problems.
the only thing that puts me off of them is the RUST, I have seen 6-7year old mazdas which have already rusted out
You can't possibly pick up a 10+year old mazda which hasn't turned to rust bucket..other than that they provide excellent value for money and rather reliable motoring if it wasn't for the rust problems.itaa said:
I think they are ''ok'' cars, obviously better than any of the french crap or ford/opel stuff, but they are not true japanese - they are bargain basement ''japanese'' cars which actually don't cost that little..
the only thing that puts me off of them is the RUST, I have seen 6-7year old mazdas which have already rusted out You can't possibly pick up a 10+year old mazda which hasn't turned to rust bucket..other than that they provide excellent value for money and rather reliable motoring if it wasn't for the rust problems.
LOL - you haven't looked out MX-5's. Lots around that haven't rusted out as you put it. We had a Mk1 import that was 20 years old and only the sills started to go at the back (common fault).the only thing that puts me off of them is the RUST, I have seen 6-7year old mazdas which have already rusted out
You can't possibly pick up a 10+year old mazda which hasn't turned to rust bucket..other than that they provide excellent value for money and rather reliable motoring if it wasn't for the rust problems.I've nothing against Mazda but at the same time they don't do much for me.
Just don't seem to produce anything overly exciting in terms of looks, even though the likes of the MPS Mazda 3 certainly went some.
The RX8 was a great looking car but that's the only one that stands out in my mind (in more recent years) that has come across as anything more than average. I'm no doubt wrong in that I'm no expert on their range of cars but they've not done anything to catch my eye.
Just don't seem to produce anything overly exciting in terms of looks, even though the likes of the MPS Mazda 3 certainly went some.
The RX8 was a great looking car but that's the only one that stands out in my mind (in more recent years) that has come across as anything more than average. I'm no doubt wrong in that I'm no expert on their range of cars but they've not done anything to catch my eye.
My Wifes 2006 3 lasted quite a few years and everything still worked. It's still out there as far as I can gather. They lost visibility after the Xedos Lantis based Versions of the 323 were discontinued along with that wonderful 2.0 litre V6. They became a bit "boring" but the styling is now more exciting. There are a few "halo" cars they have done. The RX-8, MX-5, CX-7 with that wonderful petrol 2.3 Turbo four, the MPS AWD 6 and the lairy MPS3 but the effort is basically gone into the latest 2 and the newer CX models. Good cars that drive well and are better than Hyundai's and Kia's but don't seem able to get away from a negative image.
For me it's the 'budget' appearance of Mazda's without the budget price. Dismissing the MX5 as that's in it's own little niche, but with every other Mazda car somebody else does the same thing better and / or cheaper.
The Astra / Focus is better than the Mazda3, A Mondeo is better than the Mazda6, The Kia Sportage is better than a CX-3, and that's without even looking at the perceived 'premium' European brands such as VW and Volvo.
They are under the radar as they uninspiring.
The Astra / Focus is better than the Mazda3, A Mondeo is better than the Mazda6, The Kia Sportage is better than a CX-3, and that's without even looking at the perceived 'premium' European brands such as VW and Volvo.
They are under the radar as they uninspiring.
Pickled Piper said:
I am guessing the finance deals are not so well supported by Mazda. So on paper, based on list price they appear good value, but this does not translate into monthly payments.
Not sure, when we were looking before March they were doing 50% down and 0% APR on the rest on HP. Or PCP deals at 3 years 0% APR but you could get 3.5 years out of them and £1500 deposit off them no bother too. They seemed quite able to do a good deal I thought, at least that was my experience at Sandicliffe. Though I think you might be right in that ultimately the depreciation meant the numbers weren't the best. But they weren't bad.We ended up going for a 1 year old 3 SE-L Nav and just doing a small cash loan from the bank, works out better for us. Brilliant car for doing the usual guff. Ride is well judged, NA engine throttle response is immediate and crisp, nice progressive brakes, the best gear box I have used (very short, light, precise throw), great NAV system and a lovely interior. Looks great as well and the 6 is even better to look at because the length of the car handles Mazda's design language a bit better.
We tried a lot of stuff; Focus, V40, Leon, Rapid/Octavia... we just couldn't see past the Mazda (though the Focus came close). Best looking, best driving, not the best built (V40) but not the worst (Leon) and seemingly the only one that came with a well considered assortment of toys for the money. 2 liter NA engine, 120 hp, so not the fastest thing going, but it pulls really well in 2,3 and 4. Its got quite decent low-mid torque owing to a high compression ratio. 40 MPG average without trying on a mix of driving and 55 possible on a long motorway run. Not out of this world but more than good enough in my book. Enough to show the downsizing crew that big engines can still do it.
I Like Mazda's ethos.
The Surveyor said:
For me it's the 'budget' appearance of Mazda's without the budget price. Dismissing the MX5 as that's in it's own little niche, but with every other Mazda car somebody else does the same thing better and / or cheaper.
The Astra / Focus is better than the Mazda3, A Mondeo is better than the Mazda6, The Kia Sportage is better than a CX-3, and that's without even looking at the perceived 'premium' European brands such as VW and Volvo.
They are under the radar as they uninspiring.
I would say a Sportage is not the car to compare to a CX-3. The CX-3 being as it is, based on the 2, is a pretty small car. They don't do it any favours in the adverts though because it looks like a good sized soft roader. Then you get to the dealership and realise its actually much smaller than you thought and the boot can just about hold a handbag in it!The Astra / Focus is better than the Mazda3, A Mondeo is better than the Mazda6, The Kia Sportage is better than a CX-3, and that's without even looking at the perceived 'premium' European brands such as VW and Volvo.
They are under the radar as they uninspiring.
However, it does make the CX-5 look bloody enormous by comparison!
I agree with OP.
I've been involved with Mazda's since 1969, for years as a dealer and since 1987 when I retired, as a customer.
As a dealer we used to complain to Mazda about their poor advertising and how they seemingly wanted to be the "under the radar" Japanese brand.
I don't think they have one model today that is not highly regarded by road testers and to these eyes all of their cars are attractive. Apart from the well known woes of the lovely RX-8 they have a reputation for being reliable as well.
I've been involved with Mazda's since 1969, for years as a dealer and since 1987 when I retired, as a customer.
As a dealer we used to complain to Mazda about their poor advertising and how they seemingly wanted to be the "under the radar" Japanese brand.
I don't think they have one model today that is not highly regarded by road testers and to these eyes all of their cars are attractive. Apart from the well known woes of the lovely RX-8 they have a reputation for being reliable as well.
Edited by threespires on Monday 25th July 18:33
Byker28i said:
LOL - you haven't looked out MX-5's. Lots around that haven't rusted out as you put it. We had a Mk1 import that was 20 years old and only the sills started to go at the back (common fault).
seems like you have forgotten that they have 50 other models? the MX5 is/was a legend& exception and I would want a decent one myself...Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff