Mazda may sell its US mfg stake to Ford.

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So theyre just gonna stop making the 6 and the Tribute in the US i guess. Everything else is already made in other countries. The Mazdaspeed 6's sold in the US were Japanese made, their VINs began with JM1GG instead of 1YVHP. The plant that makes the Tribute will keep making Escapes and the AAI plant will keep making Mustangs. I really dont see the issue here.

I do have to say that Mazda's parts distribution network sucks compared to Ford. They could have easily piggy-backed on Ford's exemplary parts distribution but they have to do things their own way. Nothing like telling a customer their Mazda part is 3 days away unless they pay for expedited freight when the same part from Ford can be had same day for less money. Odds are the Mazda part will be a Ford or Motorcraft with a Mazda sticker on it.

Don't get me wrong, Mazda makes some nice rides, just none I am interested in. As soon as they make a V8 RWD coupe or sedan making 400+hp then we can talk.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Mazda, Nissan, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi (USA) are floundering at marketing themselves with any uniqueness or Japanese "quality" or innovation.


I would buy a Mazda or a Nissan before I'd ever consider anything from Suzuki or Mitsubishi.

I was punished by Budget with a 2010 Mitsubishi Galant. I never knew that cars that BAD were still being made in the 21st century.
 
I have never been a big fan of Mazda, their exterior styling is okay, but I really don't like the design of their interiors. On the Mazda 6, if you buy a loaded up $30k version with push button start, they use a cheap plastic filler plate to cover where the ignition cylinder should be.

DSCN0119-L.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
.... On the Mazda 6, if you buy a loaded up $30k version with push button start, they use a cheap plastic filler plate to cover where the ignition cylinder should be.


Volkswagen does that too.

The dumbing down of the Jetta for the U.S. Market is evident from the moment you try to insert the ignition key into the covered up steering column ignition switch. This fix-it solution just makes the car look that much more cheap...Motor Trend.

I didn't buy a 6 for the interior. I bought it because of the way it went into a corner. It made the Accord feel like a Lumina and the Camry feel like a Park Avenue. (well, that and I could get a V6 powered Mazda6S for the price of a 4 cylinder Camry SE or Accord LX.)
 
Oh! I hadn't noticed before. They kept the same dash vents on the side as the previous generation Mazda6 but the center vents and some of the center stack looks like they pulled it out of the Fusion.
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Oh! I hadn't noticed before. They kept the same dash vents on the side as the previous generation Mazda6 but the center vents and some of the center stack looks like they pulled it out of the Fusion.
lol.gif



The side vents look just like the ones on our Transit Connect delivery vehicle.
 
The RX-8 is better than any 4-seater in existence at something that nobody cares about (handling), and that advantage comes at the cost of a bunch of things that most people care about (horsepower, torque, fuel economy, running costs, "niceness" per dollar, etc.).

The Mazda 5 is the only 6-seater on the US market that is available with a manual transmission.

All of their cars have to be driven to be understood; on paper they don't make much sense next to their competition.


Mazda is SERIOUSLY committed to enthusiasts, and they are nearly alone in that. They will never make big sales this way; on the whole, they basically depend on the loyalty of their customer base and the continued existence of significant numbers of enthusiasts. I'm not surprised at all that times might be tough enough for them to make a move like this. I'm just thankful that they're not compromising on their principles. If I could, I would give up my car for an RX-8 R3 right now -- as in, right this minute -- and not look back. Seriously.
 
I recall seeing a comment that was I believe made by the Mazda Japan CEO..essentially he stated something like , "We will not make compromises that dilute the driver oriented nature of our vehicles to appease the US market.

I've tried to search for it but can't find it. I believe it was made within the past few years or so.

That statement along makes me serious about considering a Mazda for my next car.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
The RX-8 is better than any 4-seater in existence at something that nobody cares about (handling), and that advantage comes at the cost of a bunch of things that most people care about (horsepower, torque, fuel economy, running costs, "niceness" per dollar, etc.).

The Mazda 5 is the only 6-seater on the US market that is available with a manual transmission.

All of their cars have to be driven to be understood; on paper they don't make much sense next to their competition.


Mazda is SERIOUSLY committed to enthusiasts, and they are nearly alone in that. They will never make big sales this way; on the whole, they basically depend on the loyalty of their customer base and the continued existence of significant numbers of enthusiasts. I'm not surprised at all that times might be tough enough for them to make a move like this. I'm just thankful that they're not compromising on their principles. If I could, I would give up my car for an RX-8 R3 right now -- as in, right this minute -- and not look back. Seriously.

thumbsup2.gif
Well said.
 
Even driving the Protege5 I was surprised at how much of a drivers car it was-

I think MAZDA is underrated. (And I think Hyundai/KIA is overrated at the moment. )
 
The RX-7 is the car that made Mazda famous, and it is the first thing people think of.

The car was extremely fun to drive..... When you could actually drive it. Few car engines had shorter times between rebuilds than Mazda rotaries, however, the cars were so enjoyable that people actually rebuilt the engine.

In short, Mazda has an image of being troublesome.
 
Image shmimage. I for one don't look at images that are falsely created by media and try to form an opinion of my own.

So when I was shopping for a new car in 2006, my first pick were, you guessed it, Toyota and Honda. My wife and I started with Honda and after horrible dealer treatment and my true dislike of Civic’s interior, Honda was out.

Next was Toyota. We just sat in the floor model, I had Corolla as a rental so I did not need a test drive, and after a minute it was a definite NO from my wife and me.

We drove by a Mazda dealer and I said what the heck, lets take a look. I also had an image of Mazda that was fed to me by media, but after taking a look at Mazda 3 and riding it, there was no contest, this was the car.


So here I am after 5 years and 75k miles with no major problems driving my "troublesome" car and liking every single mile of it, well kilometer really
lol.gif


Meanwhile I had a 2010 Sonata for a week as a rental and other than nice interior, I really saw nothing special in the car and definitely not living up to the hype in my view.

In a way I am glad that Mazda is a small player because I can see what mainstream does to brands and I hate it.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
... Few car engines had shorter times between rebuilds than Mazda rotaries...

Can you name one company that built longer lasting automotive Wankel rotaries?
Suzuki doesn't count. The RE500 was a motorcycle. It sure wasn't Audi (NSU) It was often joked that one needed two NSU rotaries to make a round trip to the store. One to get there and one to get back. I still haven't seen one Chevrolet Monza or a AMC Pacer with the GM rotary they were intended to have.

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Image shmimage. I for one don't look at images that are falsely created by media and try to form an opinion of my own.

So when I was shopping for a new car in 2006, my first pick were, you guessed it, Toyota and Honda. My wife and I started with Honda and after horrible dealer treatment and my true dislike of Civic’s interior, Honda was out.

Next was Toyota. We just sat in the floor model, I had Corolla as a rental so I did not need a test drive, and after a minute it was a definite NO from my wife and me.

We drove by a Mazda dealer and I said what the heck, lets take a look. I also had an image of Mazda that was fed to me by media, but after taking a look at Mazda 3 and riding it, there was no contest, this was the car.


So here I am after 5 years and 75k miles with no major problems driving my "troublesome" car and liking every single mile of it, well kilometer really
lol.gif


Meanwhile I had a 2010 Sonata for a week as a rental and other than nice interior, I really saw nothing special in the car and definitely not living up to the hype in my view.

In a way I am glad that Mazda is a small player because I can see what mainstream does to brands and I hate it.

thumbsup2.gif

I drove a 2006 3.5 Malibu Maxx today.
Like my Mazda 6, it had a V6, is a 5-door, and it was grey...that's where the similarities end.
It's the Epsilon platform...same as the current (much prettier) Malibu. So it's pretty good right?
No. It's not.
I understand why people don't like front wheel drive cars now.
Just on paper, the lateral acceleration numbers probably aren't that different. But in the driver's seat, it's totally different.

The funny thing is that being a Maxx, it's not mainstream. But I definitely get your point.

Oh! and I bought my 6 with 25,000 miles in 2006. 5 years and over 80,000 miles later it still drives like that.
 
I've always liked mazdas - the way they look and that they're much more sportier than the other 2 big [censored]. names. Mazdas are never sleep inducing like those 2. i like that.

I even like the old MX6 mazdas.
 
My son enjoys his '04 Mazda RX8.

It's an exciting vehicle with very few comparables (Honda S2000?).

I think the key to the rotary's life is short oil change intervals.

I'm using PYB in 5W-30 instead of the factory recommended 5W-20.

I also add 2 cycle oil to the gas.
 
Originally Posted By: JoeWGauss
I recall seeing a comment that was I believe made by the Mazda Japan CEO..essentially he stated something like , "We will not make compromises that dilute the driver oriented nature of our vehicles to appease the US market.

I've tried to search for it but can't find it. I believe it was made within the past few years or so.

That statement along makes me serious about considering a Mazda for my next car.

I've read somewhere that Mazda has the highest percentage of owners that use their car for some sort of motorsports activity as well. Some of their cars aren't exactly the most practical but a FD RX-7 on a road course, or a Miata at an autocross, is impressive for a stock vehicle.
Up here I think some months the Mazda3 has been the most popular car sold but I guess they need some US sales as well.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: JoeWGauss
I recall seeing a comment that was I believe made by the Mazda Japan CEO..essentially he stated something like , "We will not make compromises that dilute the driver oriented nature of our vehicles to appease the US market.

I've tried to search for it but can't find it. I believe it was made within the past few years or so.

That statement along makes me serious about considering a Mazda for my next car.

I've read somewhere that Mazda has the highest percentage of owners that use their car for some sort of motorsports activity as well. Some of their cars aren't exactly the most practical but a FD RX-7 on a road course, or a Miata at an autocross, is impressive for a stock vehicle.
Up here I think some months the Mazda3 has been the most popular car sold but I guess they need some US sales as well.


And still fun to drive....
 
"The U.S. automaker has essentially agreed to maintain current worker levels by expanding the models it builds at the facility, Nikkei said."

This sounds to me like Ford is pushing Mazda out (to get increased production capacity for itself) more than Mazda willingly leaving.
 
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