Sometime in the near future, you should be able to visit your Mazda dealer and check out a new Mazda EV. Recently, Masahiro Moro stepped up to CEO of the company. He was previously the head of Mazda’s North American operations. The change up top comes after the MX-30 EV launched to underwhelming support.
Mazda Invests $11 Billion in EVs
Mazda is investing $11 billion in producing new EV models after its first fully electric model didn’t make much of an impression. The MX-30 is pretty fun to drive like most Mazda models, and it looks pretty cool too. Unfortunately, the 100-mile range estimated by the EPA is not good at all compared to its rivals. Fortunately, Mazda seems to realize that any new EV models it makes will have to compete with the increasing number of EVs around it.
To that end, the automaker has committed $11 billion to develop new EV models. The promotion of Masahiro Moro to CEO is also part of this plan. The incoming CEO has already made a number of personnel changes, including promoting Jeffrey H. Guyton to his previous seat.
Why Did the MX-30 Fail?
The 2022 Mazda MX-30 was sold out by August of that year, but it only sold a total of 505 units. Mazda initially said that it didn’t have big sales goals for the MX-30. In fact, the original goal was 560 units in the first model year. There are a lot of reasons why the MX-30 has been labeled a dud. The main reason is that its specs simply cannot compete with rivals.
The MX-30 has a very small range of only 100 miles as estimated by the EPA. It’s powered by only one electric motor in the front, and there is no dual-motor AWD variant. The powertrain only makes about 145 horsepower, but to make things worse, despite its lightness, the MX-30 takes 9.2 seconds to go from zero to 60. As you might expect, this lack of excitement spelled doom for
its sales.
Plans For The Future
The truth is that Mazda is pretty underrated when it comes to selling cars in the United States. The MX-5 Miata remains an icon, but many of the other models you see at your local Mazda dealer are simply overlooked by buyers. Recently, Mazda has started focusing on premium interiors instead of hyping driving dynamics. While driving dynamics are great for certain types of buyers, there’s no doubt that the average buyer is more interested in a nice interior.
The switch appears to have paid off. Mazda’s sales in North America were actually higher in 2022 than they were in 2019 before all the fallout from the pandemic. Aside from the MX-30, Mazda’s newer vehicles like the CX-90 have all shown a lot of promise in sales.
The MX-5 Miata will most likely always be popular, but with EV models heating up, Mazda has to come through with its next generation.
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