Recently, Jeremy Thomson, head of Mazda Motors UK, said in an interview: "Mazda motors want to move closer to high-end, and we strive to become the fourth world-renowned luxury car brand in Japan. ”
But in China, the heart of the global auto market, Mazda's situation is not very optimistic: from 2017 to 2021, Mazda's sales in China have experienced five consecutive years of decline. In 2021, Mazda sold 183,900 units in China, down 14.3% year-on-year.
In 2021, Mazda will not only face a sales dilemma, but its subsidiary FAW-Mazda will also be forced to merge with Changan-Mazda due to poor management.
The frequent emergence of problems at the product and design level makes the contrast between reality and ideal more cruel, which can't help but make people sigh:
Why did you Mazda have the courage to transform to the high end?
Product quality is unsustainable
Once Mazda not only had a rotor technology yellow robe, but also had excellent handling performance in its own model, but now Mazda's brand reputation has long been late.
Strange noise, now the biggest problem of the current Mazda model, therefore, the new Ma 6 is jokingly called "Art Squeak" by netizens.
In the 2021 car quality network Japanese model ranking, Mazda Artez ranked eighth in the TOP10 list because of the problem of concentrated abnormal sound.
According to Sohu Auto sales data, nissan Tianlai and Honda Accord, which are adjacent to Mazda Artez in the list, will sell 162,000 units and 200,400 units in 2021.
In contrast, Mazda Artez sales in 2021 is only 16,800 vehicles, the complaint rate is self-evident, it seems that Artez not only sells less, but also has a high complaint rate.
Coincidentally, the problem of abnormal sound is not only in the Atez car, but also in Mazda's new Horse 3 Axela, SUV models CX-30, CX-4 and CX-5 and other models have also appeared.
At present, Mazda has only 7 models on sale, and the above-mentioned models with abnormal noise have reached 5 models, and the problem of abnormal sound has become a common problem of Mazda models.
In addition to the strange noise, there are many problems with Mazda in the quality control of the decorative process. On the car quality network, the new Horse 3 Axela has b-pillar decorative strips upturned, central control screen cracking and other parts and components problems.
The comprehensive decline of product quality is enough to show that there are major problems in Mazda's quality control at present, and consumers can be called blind boxes in the car purchase experience.
Product design ideas are stubborn
"Small and beautiful" has always been Mazda's self-proclaimed slogan, but this design idea is not satisfied in the Chinese market.
For a Chinese society that has just entered the comprehensive well-off, it is impossible for any consumer to ignore practicality when buying a car.
But the Interior Of Mazda is obviously too stubborn in the design of the interior space. Comparing the compact SUV Mazda CX-5 two-wheel drive Zhizun Edition (179,800) with the geely Xingyue L 4WD Premium Edition (175,200), which is priced at a similar price, we can have some experience.
In terms of body data, the CX-5 is a little smaller than the Star Yue L, and the implementation of the interior space is the difference between usable and easy to use.
In the three core pieces, the difference in practicality between the two cars is even more obvious.
In terms of power equipment, although the Hoshigoshi L has a higher curb weight due to its larger body size, the 2.0T engine equipped with it is about 80 horsepower higher than the 2.0L engine of the CX-5 at the same price.
In terms of gearbox, the Star-Etsu L has more gearbox gears and theoretically better fuel economy.
On the chassis, at the price of 170,000, although the two are not much different in terms of suspension, the Hoshikoshi L already has a four-wheel drive system, and the CX-5 wants to buy a model with a four-wheel drive system to more than 200,000.
It can be seen that the current Mazda has long lost its core competitiveness for the rapid progress of its own brands in products in recent years, and "small and beautiful" is only Mazda's self-consolation.
It is worth mentioning that Geely not only plans to vigorously promote Raytheon hybrid technology this year, but also launches new models under its pure electronic brand Geometry and Extreme Krypton. At present, Mazda's new energy models are only one oil-to-electricity CX-30EV.
For The independent brand of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the field of new energy, Mazda has long been left behind.
Differentiate between domestic and foreign countries
Compared with the Chinese market, Mazda has always been "eccentric" towards the North American market.
Taking the 2022 New Horse 3 Axela as an example, in the case of little difference in configuration compared with the 2021 model, the North American market is equipped with a standard four-wheel drive system, starting with a 2.0L self-priming engine, and the top version of the power comes to the 2.5T turbocharged engine.
In terms of price, with 21,700 US dollars or about 140,000 yuan, you can get 2.5L self-priming power on the American version of the Sedan Axela.
In the domestic cash Axela, you use the same 140,000 yuan, in the country you can only get 2.0L self-priming power.
In addition, it is equipped with 1.5L self-priming on the cai version, does not provide a 2.5T version on the top match, and is a castrated four-wheel drive system, which can not be said.
More seriously, there is a gap in the safety performance of the same models in the Chinese and American markets.
Take the 2021 new Horse 6 Artez as an example, which scored excellent in the "North American Zhongbao Research Institute" IIHS crash test, and all test scores were G (excellent).
In the crash test on Artez at the end of 2020, the China Insurance Research Institute showed a different scene.
Due to the three phenomena of obvious bending of the A-pillar, serious occupant intrusion and poor dummy head restraint in the front 25% bias crash test, the positive 25% bias crash test score is only M (medium), which is different from the all-excellent score of the American version of Artez.
Taking the money earned from the Chinese market, giving blood transfusions to the US market, and eating inside and outside are disgusting.
Summary: The current Mazda is like a middle-aged man with high hands and low eyes, flashy and sticking to the past, and the prospects for the future Chinese market are definitely not optimistic.
I hope that Mazda will put aside its arrogance, seriously face the needs of Chinese consumers, and come up with more sincere products and services, otherwise your dream of "Dongying BMW" will eventually be a dream of Huang Liang.