Jerry Flint on Mazda: Who's Zoom-Zoomin' who?
Automotive
Mazda vehicles are “it” cars among many automotive enthusiasts, who gush over their handling, bang-for-buck value, and design. The MX-5 (formerly known as the Miata, is one of Flint’s favorite cars), and the Mazda3 is widely considered one of the best cars available among reviewers.
Mazda’s problem, Flint argues, is rooted in its past, when the company tried to compete directly against Toyota on their home turf in Japan. While the company's current "Zoom Zoom" campaign has separated it from the world’s second largest automaker’s shadow, Mazda's small size, still growing dealership network, and leadership shuffle have hampered its growth. Historically, Flint says, companies in similar situations have collapsed, but, he then reminds readers what Henry Ford thought of history.
[Source: Forbes]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ryan 1:39PM (5/03/2006)
Mazda is used to not being #1 in volume, they never have been. Why would this now, all of a sudden cause them to go down?
The one thing I notice is they still make the majority of there cars directly in Japan. My Mazda 3 on the window sticker states:
US/CAN part content: 0%
Engine: Japan
Transmission: Japan
Final point of assy: Hiroshima, Japan
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Richard Warren 1:58PM (5/03/2006)
Mazda builds a pretty nice machine. However, it's always been a marginal player here in the US, and lets be honest for a number of years they didn't have great product.
I see Mazda in sort the same light as VW, a small player in the US with a pretty select group that supports them, nearly regardless of what's happening.
The new crop of products is nice, I'd say just keep doing what you're doing, stay on target and thumb your nose at Jerry Flint.
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Alexey 2:00PM (5/03/2006)
Mazdas marketing is totally one-dimensional and thus downright stupid. They advertise what are essentially family cars with some sporty flair as pure sports cars. There are just not that many people that want a sports car. Mazda should emphasize other attributes, such as quality interior and great styling.
Plus, Mazdas pricing strategy is infuriating. All the options are bundled together in a non-transparent, totally Byzantine way. Thats why I did not buy Mazda 6 in order to get a sunroof, I would have to pay for a bunch of completely unrelated stuff that I did not need. What a shame.
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starlightmica 2:06PM (5/03/2006)
Does it really make sense to think of Mazda as an entity separate from Ford anymore? After all, they're joined at the hip (or rear axle) from an engineering standpoint and Mazda is around in the shape that it's in, only thanks to Ford's takeover & management injection in the late 1990's.
As long as Mazda is making a profit and contributing the engineering knowhow to the mothership (C1, CD3, etc), and slowly growing sales without big piles of cash on the hood, they're probably doing fine. Speaking of which, there are usually big rebates on the Mazda6, the second biggest sales leader in the lineup...
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bgdc 2:10PM (5/03/2006)
Mazda handling and approach = BMW of Japan. They're the closest thing I've found to a bimmer-like approach to the driving experience. I'm actually considering dumping my 2006 330i e90 for a Mazdaspeed3 or Mx5.
No other japanese manu comes closer to matching the bimmer driving feel.
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Michael Karesh 2:16PM (5/03/2006)
Flint is correct that their sales have gone nowhere, and that this is probably because the true enthusiast market just isn't all that large.
But I'd hate it if they made their products more like everyone else's to boost sales. They've tried this before, and it didn't work. And even if it did work I wouldn't like it.
I currently drive a Protege5, and following my advice my father has an RX-8. For anyone who has handling as a top priority, the RX-8 is an unbeatable value.
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Bob 2:17PM (5/03/2006)
Small car companies often have the more innovative prducts, which in turn keeps them small. BMW will probably never have more than 2% of the US market partially for this reason. If a company wants to go mainstream it has to build more boring products that don't "offend" people such as GM and Toyota do.
I recently rented a Mazda 6 that was loaded. I expected this car to be really sporty and fun, based on its reputation, but was surprised that it was really ho-hum. The engine wasn't real powerful, the 6 speed auto seemed to shift at the wrong times, causing a strange feeling of deceleration around 10 mph. The manual shift was useless. (maybe they all are, I haven't used many)
Maybe I am used to engines with lower end grunt, but you really had to floor it to get it to go. A manual would have helped this car a lot.
Even though the car had less than 300 miles on it, it started to chirp when ever it was put into reverse or it shifted into first.
It did have a nice interior though.
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Nat 2:18PM (5/03/2006)
Why do all these automotive writers talk like every company should be a Toyota/Honda clone. The market would be a lot more dull without Mazda's product. They don't need to make fat-ass cars like everyone else, they just need to work on the terrible Ford-esque options packaging.
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Carlos 2:28PM (5/03/2006)
A world without niche car companies would be a world of Camries and Explorers. Whee.
Mazda's sales are hobbled by several factors, but not by their actual cars. First of all, they've only had a consistent and strong lineup in the last several years. They have a small and subpar dealership network. Their options packaging is pretty bad. Their launches never go well. And they don't have a big market - most people DO want Camries.
Mostly it's just a problem that any small company has. Most buyers automatically look at the biggest brands out there, and they fail to consider Mazda at all. On the plus side, they've been so important to Ford's own product development; many of Ford's sales can be indirectly attributed to Mazda's skill in platform design. As long as some people care about that sort of thing, Mazda has a lot of potential.
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"Sake" 2:38PM (5/03/2006)
We've owned Toyotas, Chevys, Chryslers, and Mazdas and currently own a Mazda6, Sports Wagon and would rate it's handling one of the best. The mileage with the V-6 and 6-speed automatic is super good. We would rate this Mazda on at least a parr with the others.
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Whydrive 2:38PM (5/03/2006)
The 2007 Camry SE is the best sports sedan for the money.
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Bob 2:46PM (5/03/2006)
The 2007 Camry SE is a sport sedan? I guess I have a different definition of a sport sedan.
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Judd 2:47PM (5/03/2006)
I considered the RX8 over the WRX, but the dealer wouldn't call back. The same with the Mazdaspeed Protoge. If that's the way they play, I don't want to join the game.
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Bill 2:47PM (5/03/2006)
I'm a Mazda owner and fan, and I like the brand specifically because they don't try to be all things to all people.
As for the sales trends, I would probably guess there has been some small growth in car sales, but declines in truck sales. Mazda trucks ('93 and earlier B-series) were great little trucks (owned one). After that they became Ranger clones, and sold well for awhile, but it seems they've steadily dwindled. The Mazda dealer nearest me doesn't even keep any B-series trucks in stock.
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Steve 2:48PM (5/03/2006)
Dang. He said 'Camry' and 'sport sedan' in the same sentence. That's funny.
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Whydrive 2:48PM (5/03/2006)
That's what Toyota's ad say. And Toyota never lies because they're an honest and good company.
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Steve 2:56PM (5/03/2006)
to #5 bgdc
It seems like your knowledge of cars is very poor.
What about the Subaru WRX Sti, Mitsubishi Evo, Honda S2000, Nissan Z, Infiniti G35 and M45. Yoir statements confound me, you never do your homework and you come here without any clue. Even Lexus IS has greatly improved, but all the above cars I mentioned are way ahead of any BMW "ever" built.
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Ryan 3:00PM (5/03/2006)
#14
I think it was intended to be a poor mans BMW, many reviews of even the Mazda 3 even say "if BMW made an economy car this would be it"
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Ryan 3:00PM (5/03/2006)
Sorry, meant #15
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Carl Baker 3:02PM (5/03/2006)
I own a Mazda 2004 MPV. It's the first non-american car that I have owned, and it's the among the best I have ever owned. It's styling is better than any Mini-Van on the market. I'm 73 yr's young with bad knees and
I can get in & out with little effort. It's Slightly under powered, but I'm not in a hurry. Mazda should keep on doing what they are doing.
Thanks
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