- Mazda plans updates and safety push to revive struggling CX-70 and CX-90 sales.
- Large SUVs designed for America haven’t delivered the success Mazda expected.
- Meanwhile, the aging Mazda3 is quietly enjoying one of its strongest sales years.
Mazda’s premium experiment has flopped badly, but the brand has decided the fix for its unloved flagship SUVs isn’t a bigger discount (it’s tried that) or more horsepower. Instead, it’s betting that reminding buyers how safe they are, alongside a handful of product updates, will be enough to turn things around.
Through the first half of the year, US sales of the three row CX-90 dropped 24 percent to 21,271 units, while the two row CX-70 fared even worse, tumbling 29 percent to just 5,974 deliveries. Those aren’t the kind of numbers Mazda had in mind when it developed the pair specifically with American buyers in mind.
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Speaking after Mazda returned to profitability during its latest financial quarter, CFO Jeffrey Guyton admitted he wasn’t happy with either big CX’s performance and was taking steps to make them more appealing to buyers.
“That situation is not acceptable to us,” Guyton, told Automotive News, before laying out a safety-messaging plan that has already helped get one of the brand’s smaller SUVs some headlines of the positive kind. The redesigned CX-5 recently earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest rating, and the company now boasts more Top Safety Pick Plus awards across its lineup than any rival.
Tariffs Make Sales Tougher To Win
Of course, the fact that buyers maybe didn’t know how safe Mazda’s big SUVs are isn’t the sole reason they’re bombing. The CX-70 and CX-90 were hit by tariffs because they’re imported from Japan, while the loss of incentives for plug in hybrids hasn’t exactly helped either. Add in cooling demand for pricier plug-in models, and it’s easy to see why Mazda is searching for fresh ammunition.
While Mazda is rushing to rescue to the aid of its newest models, one of its oldest is doing just fine. The current Mazda3 first appeared back in 2018, yet sales have exploded this year. July deliveries jumped almost 88 percent, while year to date sales are up 28 percent despite the car approaching its tenth birthday with remarkably few meaningful changes.
