The decadelong shift away from sedans to larger utility vehicles by U.S. consumers forced automakers to rethink the vehicles they offer. Mazda is the latest, revealing plans to eliminate the Mazda6 sedan and CX-3 in the U.S. starting next year.
The automaker quietly revealed the move last week, mirroring moves by several other automakers. Ford cut sedans entirely from its line-up a few years ago while GM reduced them to but a select few offerings.
Mazda’s move is a bit of a surprise as many of its Japan-based competitors have, essentially, doubled down in recent years, happy to have fewer players in a segment that is still significant at about 4 million vehicles annually.
“As consumer interests continue to evolve, Mazda will discontinue CX-3 and Mazda6 for the 2022 model year for the U.S. market. Although these two vehicles will be leaving our line-up in the US, we are proud of the performance, design, quality, and safety they contributed to our brand,” the company said in a very short one paragraph statement.
Impact on rest of the line-up
The move essentially cuts Mazda’s already small number of offerings by about a third — there were seven vehicles, two sedans, four crossovers and the Miata roadster. The dismissal of the Mazda6 is likely a bit of a stunner for longtime Mazda fans as it traces its roots back decades, including another name, the 626.
The CX-3 is less of a surprise as it occupied a similar space to the newly introduced CX-30, but it was not nearly as popular. There’s no official word if there will be replacements coming for the pair. There is at least one new vehicle coming for the 2022 model year: the MX-30, Mazda’s first all-electric offering.
Coming first as a battery-electric model, the new crossover ultimately will be offered in several versions, one marking the revival of the brand’s once-popular rotary engine which, in the Mazda MX-30, will serve as a range extender. The new all-electric model arrives this fall, but only to California.
The automaker also has both a larger plug-in hybrid CUV in the works, as well as a more conventional hybrid model. “Mazda is preparing for the fast-changing U.S. market demands by taking a multi-solution approach to electrification,” Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations, said in a statement.
Sales struggles for the departing
Taking out Miata sales, the pair were the two lowest sellers in Mazda’s U.S. fleet — by a mile. In fact, the CX-3 was struggling during the first four months of this year, which has seen a massive sales uptick overall. It was down 17.5% compared with year-ago numbers, and the only vehicle in the automaker’s portfolio that lagged last year’s dreadful results. This is despite a 146% jump in sales in April.
The CX-3 is less of a surprise as it occupied a similar space to the newly introduced CX-30, but was not nearly as popular. There’s no official word if there will be replacements coming for the pair. A call to Mazda officials by TheDetroitBureau was not yet returned at the time this story was published.
Taking out Miata sales, the pair were the two lowest sellers in Mazda’s U.S. fleet — by a mile. In fact, the CX-3 was struggling during the first four months of this year, which has seen a massive sales uptick overall. It was down 17.5% compared with year-ago numbers, and the only vehicle in the automaker’s portfolio that lagged last year’s dreadful results. This is despite a 146% jump in sales in April.
The Mazda6 sales were higher than last year, but not impressively so: just 10.5% year over year, including a 103.4% rise in April. Whether by percentages or units sold, the pair was substantively subpar compared to the rest of the line-up.
The automaker’s other sedan, the smaller Mazda3 sold 2.5x more vehicles through April than the Mazda6. The CX-3 sells at just a 10th of the number of the CX-30 and a sixth of next slowest seller in its crossover offerings, the CX-9, the brand’s largest vehicle.
