In a previous article, we mentioned the Mazda brand. Although this car brand, which once had a highlight moment in the Chinese auto market, is no longer the "teenager" it once was, it seems inappropriate to say that it is "cheap" and old. After all, the new Chang'an Mazda gave it hope of surviving. Last year, FAW Mazda withdrew, and the new Changan Mazda shouldered the burden of mazda's brand rejuvenation in China. However, the ideal is very full, but the reality is as bone-like as ever. Since the establishment of the new Changan Mazda, sales have still been sluggish, and it is still difficult to see the hope of a significant increase in sales of the Mazda brand!
According to the data, from September 2021 to February 2022, Mazda China's sales were 16428 vehicles, 15291 vehicles, 14754 vehicles, 14590 vehicles, 19198 vehicles and 8047 vehicles, respectively. Maybe some netizens will say that the good months are about to break 20,000, which is very good! But if you look closely, this sales volume is not a single model sales, but the sales volume of all models of Mazda China.
That is to say, the Mazda 3 Axela, Artez, CX-30/CX-30 EV, CX-4, CX-5, CX-8 and other models combined, the best month still failed to break through 20,000.
For this achievement, Mazda China, the new Chang'an Mazda, presumably will not be satisfied. But what's the problem?
Football is not played well, and the coach has to get out of class. This, when applied to the new Chang'an Mazda, also seems to be suitable. At the beginning of this year, Changan Automobile made personnel adjustments, and Wang Hui took over Fu Yuanhong as executive vice president of Changan Mazda Co., Ltd. Subsequently, the Japanese side also made personnel adjustments, and Sumioka Kei took over as Nakajima tokutoshi as the president of Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. In fact, the reason why the new Changan Mazda is sluggish may have a human factor, but the product factor is the key.
From the sales point of view, the current Changan Mazda, over-reliant on Mazda 3 Axela and CX-5. Specifically, sales in January-February this year were 27,245 units, of which the cumulative sales of Mazda 3 Axelas in January and February reached 16,292 units, accounting for 59.80% of the total sales, followed by the MAZDA CX-5 in the first two months of sales of 4610 units, accounting for 16.9% of the overall sales. The total sales of the two models accounted for 76.7% of the total sales. Just imagine, in case these two cars have some problems, for the new Changan Mazda, is not the sky about to collapse?
In fact, even if these two brothers sell well, how can they support a brand? Looking at Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which are also Japanese brands, almost every brand can come up with several best-selling products. In contrast, Changan Mazda, only the Mazda 3 Axela and CX-5 can barely take the shot. Even so, compared to the tens of thousands of Mazda 3 Axela, the sales of CX-5 in the past two months are only a few thousand units!
Perhaps recognizing this problem, the new MAZDA CX-5 is here. Let's not talk about the slow iteration, let's talk about the sincerity of the new product, after a simple analysis, you will find that obviously some are not enough!
Why? Looking at the price first, the new MAZDA CX-5 is priced at 175,800-236,800 yuan, an increase of 6,000 yuan compared to the starting price of 169,800 yuan ten years ago. In fact, cars are different from real estate and have some room for appreciation. With the advancement of technology and the reduction of production costs, the price will not only not increase, but also fall. For example, many models of the top three BBA of luxury brands have dropped to the level of 200,000. Some models such as Santana, which were originally very bullish, have also fallen to 100,000 levels, and the minimum ratio has dropped to 86,900 yuan. Correspondingly, the configuration is much higher than that of the model a decade ago.
So, is the new MAZDA CX-5 raising the starting price significantly in the configuration? Next, let's take a look at how big Changan Mazda's so-called configuration upgrade is.
In terms of appearance, the new MAZDA CX-5 still adopts Mazda's soul-moving exterior design, in which the front grille is changed to a suspended air intake grille of the new logo wing, and the light group adopts a new far and near integrated LED headlights and rear tail lights. In addition, the turn signal and rim have been adjusted, using LED light source and two-color rim respectively. To be honest, the grille has not changed much, and the use of LED light sources is not fresh enough. As for the change of rim, as an SUV model, isn't it supposed to be?
Or maybe Mazda is overconfident in its soul design, and overall, the appearance of the new MAZDA CX-5 has hardly changed much. But we all know that even if the design is good, it can't be tired of looking, and it also needs to be upgraded and iterated in time. The new MAZDA CX-5 is so stubborn in its design that it is obviously not generous.
In terms of body size, the new MAZDA CX-5 is 4575/1842/1685mm in length, width and height, and the wheelbase is 2700mm, and the length of the new car has increased by 20mm, which is a good change. But if you think about it, the wheelbase of 2700mm is just decent!
Looking at the interior, the overall layout of the new MAZDA CX-5 cockpit has not changed much, but some adjustments have been made in the selection of materials and workmanship. For example, the piano paint in the central control part was replaced by a metal drawing process, and more soft materials were used, and the sewing workmanship was introduced. The biggest change is the addition of a central control knob button. In terms of other configurations, the start-up version of the model added 10.25-inch central control LCD display, mobile phone Interconnection, car Bluetooth phone, voice control multimedia, reversing image, rear armrest and cup holder, induction wipers, LED daytime running lights and automatic headlights, and the size of the LCD dashboard was also upgraded from the current model's 3.5 inches to 4.6 inches. The top model adds 360-degree panoramic image, full-speed adaptive cruise, lane keeping assist system, and the size of the LCD dashboard is also increased to 7 inches. Regrettably, however, devices such as navigation and traffic information displays, BOES speakers and headlight cleaning have been eliminated.
On these, there is no need to compare the same level of models, but compared with many domestic cars, how can these changes be taken? Looking at today's car industry, intelligent networking is the standard, and L2-level intelligent driving assistance has long been widely popularized. Mo said that the new MAZDA CX-5 is compared with the same class of 170,000 models, that is, compared with the 100,000-level independent brand, these configurations are not worth coming up with.
unbelief? Just look at the configuration of the same door Auchan X7PLUS! So, with regard to the new MAZDA CX-5 upgrades, these things are not a big deal at all!
Look at the new MAZDA CX-5 proud power combination Mazda new CX-5 is equipped with a Chuangchi Blue Sky engine, a total of 2.0L and 2.5L two displacements, matching the 6-speed manual transmission. The maximum power of the 2.0L model is 114 kW and the maximum torque is 200 N·m; the maximum power of the 2.5 L model is 144 kW and the maximum torque is 252 N·m. In terms of transmission, the new car is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. It can be said that the new MAZDA CX-5's power combination, or the set of things we are familiar with, is not too new.
In a video on Changan Mazda's official video number, Wang Hui, as the new executive vice president, proudly said that children only make multiple choice questions, and Mazda's driving pleasure is all. From the words, we can see his self-confidence, but in terms of the changes of the new MAZDA CX-5, I would like to ask Vice President Wang Hui who gave him all the confidence and courage?
To summarize briefly, although the new MAZDA CX-5 has made a lot of changes, I am afraid that there is still a lot of sincerity. Although the addition is not sincere enough, the price increase is very positive. However, in the face of the increasingly competitive compact SUV market, how many opportunities can the new MAZDA CX-5 re-emerge with such a simple change? In the face of more similar model options, who will pay for Mazda's arrogance?
Of course, there may be a small partner who says that if the new Changan Mazda still can't make a difference on the new MAZDA CX-5, isn't there still a new energy model?
On September 26, 2021, Changan Mazda CX-30 EV was officially launched, as a fuel-based model of the fuel-to-electricity model, the sales data of this model is not generally ugly. According to statistics, from October 2021 to February 2022, sales were 12, 19, 43, 104 and 29 respectively. As far as the data of this car is concerned, it can be described as miserable. Mo said that driving the sales of Changan Mazda is whether he can survive, I am afraid it is a difficult thing!
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Lack of best-selling products, low sales of new energy models, and the new MAZDA CX-5 has no sincerity to speak of, coupled with the fact that Mazda executives have also revealed that there will be no new products this year, which means that Changan Mazda will not have strong new products to support. In the face of so many difficulties and problems, the author especially wants to ask Vice President Wang Hui, what exactly does the new Changan Mazda rely on to complete the sales target of 200,000 vehicles in 2022?
Finally, I would like to remind the new Changan Mazda that a replacement may be necessary, but how to improve product strength and introduce more powerful new products seems to be more important. Well, let's talk about it here, next, let's wish Wang Hui always have a smooth sailing in the position of vice president!