Mazda: The persistent "lone traveler" can hardly hide his romantic stupidity
In this era of new energy and autonomous driving, the concept of driving is gradually becoming rational, but Mazda is still going the opposite way. Not only does the Japanese car company rest on its laurels with its naturally aspirated engines, but even its latest SUV product goes against the grain in terms of handling, as if it just doesn't want to follow the pace of the trendy Volkswagen.
However, it is this "stupidity" and "solitary travel" that have made Mazda gain the fanatical pursuit of loyal fans. Their love for Mazda is not only due to the product itself, but also to the yearning for a disobedient and unworldly attitude to life.
For Mazda, the car should not just be a means of transportation, but a romantic vehicle for the pleasure of driving. As a result, even for the CX-90, a family SUV, the handling performance is a rare focus for Mazda. The owner of the car feels the pleasure of handling after a long time, and it is probably to taste the "romance" that they exist in their hearts.
It's a narrow and headstrong "romantic" idea, just as Mazda's complacency with its naturally aspirated machines is ironic. But today, when the electric era is soaring, Mazda has once again raised a "romantic" anti-trend banner, showing a maverick that is different from mainstream values.
This "romantic temperament" is not owned by Mazda alone, but is rooted in the DNA of the Japanese automobile industry. Represented by the hard gasoline engine of the 60s, Honda, Toyota and other brands did not hesitate to donate power, but also pursued the pure pleasure of "high rpm + small displacement".
The original dedication to driving experience has now been perfectly interpreted and inherited from Mazda. If electric vehicles represent the future of rational technology, then Mazda's naturally aspirated engine is undoubtedly the last banner of romantic childishness.
Waywardness will eventually pay a price
However, the price of Mazda's stupidity is also obvious: in the global car market, it is destined to become an outcast.
Last year, Mazda's global sales were only 1.2 million units, in stark contrast to Toyota's sky-high sales of more than 10 million units. Even in the domestic market, Mazda's performance is far from satisfactory - with the "mercenary" popular taste of Chinese consumers, Mazda's "romanticism" is naturally difficult to win.
According to the data, Mazda's domestic sales have been declining year after year, and only backward low-end models can be sold in the product line. What's more fatal is that its hesitant attitude in the field of new energy electric vehicles is destined to be abandoned by the times.
To some extent, Mazda is destined to become a "passerby", and perhaps one day, it will choose to completely abandon the Chinese market. The deformed marketing strategy, coupled with the lack of respect for the new energy era, has left Mazda lacking a foothold in China.
When Mazda still wastes most of its energy on naturally aspirated engines that are "old and unnutritious", it has lost its lead in the field of new energy. With its limited resources and strength, it will be difficult to make a comeback in the electric era.
This will undoubtedly be a suffocating result, because Mazda does have irreplaceable product features. The MX-5 Roadster, for example, is perhaps the last of today's "pure driving" creations.
How many people have enlightened the yearning for sports genes under the angular shape of this sports car? And how many people have opened up the longing for road romance in its classic convertible setting? Mazda's products are exactly the yearning and dreams of young people of that era for the future.
Today's Mazda is still interpreting its dedication to pure love for driving in its own way. Products like the MX-5 are still crazy. But unfortunately, due to Mazda's "stupidity", these dreams are drifting away and are being ruthlessly abandoned by reality.
Romance will not eventually decline
In the face of the current situation, Mazda is not completely unconscious. For example, in the MX-30 model, they finally "compromised" to try a plug-in hybrid model.
The problem, however, is that the stubborn genes have left Mazda out of the loop. The powertrain configuration is extremely rudimentary, with a range of only about 200 kilometers, which is obviously too unsuccessful in the current electric vehicle environment.
Radical as Tesla, moderate as GAC Toyota, almost all mainstream car companies have been exploring in the field of hybrid and pure electric vehicles for a long time, and have made phased achievements. And Mazda still wants to rejoin the battle with a clumsy trying model, which is obviously nonsense.
Of course, Mazda's future prospects are not sluggish. As a long-established car company with more than 100 years of experience, Mazda is fully capable of making a comeback in the new energy revolution.
The only question is whether Mazda is willing to give up its complacent "romantic temperament"? Once the decision is made, it will not be difficult to achieve a technological breakthrough in the next few years, launch a new car series and occupy a certain market share.
After all, even on an all-electric model, it's not impossible to pursue sporty handling. In the future, Mazda could even create an electric version of the MX-5 that would reinterpret the "romantic" driving experience with the linear torque characteristics of an electric motor.
However, none of this seems to be a priority for Mazda at the moment. It still proudly adheres to its "romanticism" and has invested heavily in the development of the latest generation of naturally aspirated engines. Perhaps more important than anything else in the eyes of Mazda people is the "persistence of dreams" itself.
People may say that Mazda is "confused" and "stubborn". But for this old car company, "romance" is the most important thing, it is a philosophy of life, a life attitude, should not be given up lightly.
Sometimes I have to sigh, Lian is quite old, can he still eat?