A few days behind the wheel of a 2011 Mazda MX-5 Miata was enough to restore my faith in an automaker’s ability to build a genuinely fun-to-drive car.
After all, a recent week’s worth of mileage in a 2011 BMW 528i had me questioning just why the Ultimate Driving Machine had become the Ultimate Fuel Economy Machine. For sure, the 528i’s 32 mpg on the highway is impressive for a big luxo-sedan, but it seemed as though BMW took all of the fun out of the driving experience.
Luckily, Mazda is still around. I wouldn’t be the first to refer to Mazda as Japan’s BMW – after all, there are plenty of parallels, both historical and present day. Both got off to similarly auspicious interwar starts and, more recently, both have been working to shake off questionable designs by controversial designers. Even their most popular models’ naming scheme is similar – 3-Series and Mazda3 – although the Germans took the lead.
Milestones aside, these two brands have both long focused on driving dynamics above all else. Aside from the lame duck Ford-designed Tribute, any new Mazda should put a smile on the most hardened enthusiast’s face – even the surprisingly sporty Mazda5 mini-minivan. Mazda’s zoom-zoom marketing is a rare case of accurately product-inspired advertising.
You’d think that the buying public would be crawling all over Mazda the way that we, the enthusiast-oriented media, are generally wont to do. But if you’ve been paying attention to news out of Hiroshima, Japan, and Flat Rock, Michigan, you know that’s not the case.
Nearly all of Mazda’s products are seeing declining sales, even in a market that’s up about 15 percent through the first five months of 2011.
Pony up, enthusiasts
Drive almost any new Mazda back-to-back against the competition and you’ll see what I mean. These are enthusiast’s cars, from the itty-bitty Mazda2 up to the three-row CX-9. Perfect this grinning lineup is not, but as enthusiasts, aren’t we willing to accept a few compromises in exchange for the soul and character endemic to a car that provides a modicum of driving enjoyment? No other non-premium brand can say that virtually all of its lineup is genuinely fun to drive.
But the Mazda6, the car that should be Mazda’s highest volume model, is floundering. Sales have flatlined at about a third of what they were in 2005, when the previous Mazda6 was as far into its product cycle as the current one is.
The 6 was designed from the ground up to appeal to American audiences, unlike its global market predecessor.
Although a Mazda6 is offered in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, the global market version is smaller and comes primarily in wagon and hatchback bodystyles with different powertrains. Mazda chose to launch its second generation 6 in the North America back in 2009 with a design aimed at mainstream American tastes. Designed to take on the heavy hitters like Toyota and Honda, it grew substantially, with an emphasis on trunk and back seat space. Its sporty moves were watered down in favor of a cossetting ride. Its six-speed stick was dropped from the most powerful model. Its three-bodystyle lineup was chisled down to just one happy-to-see-you sedan with a trunk.
Mazda’s beancounters thought it would be a hit, a stylish design with all the right features to steal some sales from Toyota.
That happened, but it required a Hyundai badge. Something didn’t quite jive with mainstream buyers and the 6, which walks a line between zoom-zoom sporty and everyday people anonymity.
Maybe it would be best for Mazda to focus on its niche rather than to branch out for the mainstream. Especially in the family sedan market, we’ve seen almost every automaker try to emulate Toyota’s Camry – at least in one way or another.
This Americanization is taking the fun out of commuting by making one of the industry’s least-exciting segments even less… exciting. Come on, Mazda, we know you can spice things up.
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