This morning, Matt wrote about how Stellantis is having a rather bad time. But you know what company is doing unexpectedly well? Mazda. Its third-quarter sales are up 31.5 percent and sales for the year are up 17.1 percent. How on Earth is Mazda having such a good 2024?
Well, you could say that the brand creates attractive, good-performing cars that the public increasingly wants to buy. I mean, you can count me as a huge fan of current-generation Mazdas. TheDrunkenWrench offers a different explanation:
The secret is Mazda makes THE best shade of red in the automotive sphere.
True! Mazda’s red is simply fantastic in person and the way light reflects off of the metal is just beautiful. Keep up the good work, Mazda!
This morning, Jason wrote a Cold Start about the Plymouth Volaré, but what’s up with this guy? JackalopeDave delivered a story so believable I actually tried to research it:
Shameful that an American hero can be forgotten so quickly. This is Salvatore “Scoops” Tuttle, February 29th 1977 winner of the The Gong Show, who amazed all with his ice cream scoops balancing act. He went on to appear on stage and screen (watch out for his hilarious cameo in Cannonball Run 3 aka Speed Zone!), and also had a lucrative career in promotions, including partnering with Plymouth for a series of delightful advertising campaigns, highlighting his skill and showmanship. Sadly after some poor investment decisions, he mysteriously vanished in 1981 after the brutal murder of his accountant and has been wanted for questioning by the FBI.
I spent my weekend driving home one of my teenage dream cars. Our readers left lots of lovely comments, but Óscar Morales Vivó was clever with this:
And you may find yourself working for an auto site
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a small automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself “Well, how did I get here?”
Finally, Fisker left some garbage behind at its old facility, but Angrycat Meowmeow knows how to handle it:
There are also “approximately 20 automotive-sized batteries” left behind, which appear to be lead-acid car batteries based on the photos.
Well, the good news here is La Palma isn’t too far from the ocean, which should make the eels very happy.
Have a good evening, everyone!
For Mazda, It’s not just the beautiful red paint…
Mazda has done an excellent job on with sculptural flowing exterior designs in the 3 and CX-90 especially in a way that is not matched by any competitors in the US market that I can think of at anywhere near competitive prices.
I agree on Mazda Soul Red, equaled only by Tesla Ultra Red, basically the same color.
https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/tesla-ultra-red-paint-model-s-model-x.jpg
It sounds kind of silly, but there’s this feeling Mazdas have. Even the pedestrian ones. They kind of got the message across in this 1990 ad for the 626:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_XsE_iN1ps
I’ve got an Accord Hybrid now, since they stopped making the 6. I’d have gotten a used one but for the gas mileage on the 2.5T. And the Accord is really close. It’s an excellent car. But it just isn’t quite the same. The styling, for one. At least this Accord is only bland, not dumpy, and the interior is actually pretty Mazda-like. But there’s just something about Mazda’s ride/handling balance and steering/powertrain calibrations that, well, feels right.
Agree on the Soul Red and the new maroon color on the CX-90, but I have to say the CX-50 and -90 are both far more interesting to look at than drive. As a previous owner of two Millenias and almost a Mazda 3, they might have a better reputation than before, but they certainly have lost that Zoom-Zoom quality that set them apart in the past.
Soul red metallic is great, but I think Dodge’s octane red is a bit better. I think people just sleep on it because every time they see octane red, it’s on a Dodge.
I agreed about Mazda Soul Red Metallic. I walked out of a store a couple of weeks ago and though about how swoopy my CX-5’s front fender looked, and realized I was actually admiring a Mazda3. I still like the CX-5 which is my only car popular enough to be on an advertising billboard, and have Matchbox car.
I became a Mazda convert in 2021 when I bought one of the departing 6s. Everything that you’re hearing here about driving experience is true – I noticed it the very first time I drove mine and still feel the same. The comparison with BMW that some are making here is true in several other ways as well. They really want you to drive it and drive it the “right way”. In my case, that means very little in the way of comfy arm wrests on the right side (in fact, it’s practcially none) I know it’s not that way on other models, but I found it kind of funny – as if the engineers were insisting upon two hands at 10 & 2 and nothing else.
Every day I see more and more CX-50s around. They’re selling like crazy
so which comment is COTD?
Lexus Infrared has entered the chat
https://www.clublexus.com/how-tos/slideshows/5-rare-lexus-colors-437339#1-infrared
Bonus they have a blue that is just as good looking:
https://www.clublexus.com/how-tos/slideshows/5-rare-lexus-colors-437339#5-ultrasonic-blue-mica
great colors too.
I’d say Ford’s Lava Red / Magma Red is stunning too.
Mazda currently makes the best BMWs you can buy new.
As a recovering 5-series wagon owner, who has driven several rental-spec CX-5/50’s, I’ve consistently come away impressed.
Mazda has tapped into the Secret Sauce of classic old school bimmers, with taut-yet-compliant chassis tuning, tactile steering feel, quality interiors angled to the driver and on the CX-90 an inline six!
Fully rounding out the BMW driving experience, one of my Mazda rentals even had an oil leak! Kidding aside, Mazda is hitting out of the park with affordable, fun to drive vehicles at a reasonable price point.
I wish they made vehicles with more headroom.
I got a Mazda 3 as a rental car yesterday for work and had the awesome opportunity to drive it through the Adirondack mountains to Vermont. Definitely the best driving experience I’ve had in a modern car in years. The 3 is comfortable, reasonably quick, has excellent handling, and well thought out.
Just yesterday I was ogling/appreciating that deep, gorgeous red. What a kickass color, and not just color but paint job. It’s lacquered to a candy shine but deeper than a collection of one-hit wonder B-sides at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Mazda’s Soul Red is a great color, but I challenge Mazda to give us another color other than red. Green? Maybe a blue that isn’t actually gray?
Upvoting to second a Soul Forest Green color, ideally paired ‘90’s spec with a nice tan interior!
I understand we’re enthusiasts and our opinions mean little to auto manufacturer product planning these days, but most people I know love green over tan, enthusiast or not. Especially with marketing departments demanding outdoorsy at all costs, why the hell can’t we get the combination on damn near everything?
Woo! How many more COTDs do I need to collect before I get my own column? Columnists are still a thing, right?
Yes they are! And by my count, that would put you in charge of the fifth column.
Ooh, it’ll be like the 5th Estate! Just with much, MUCH shittier takes.
Yay I won!
The prize is the knowledge that I made some folks smile. Which, come to think of it, is one of the best prizes.
I will agree Mazda makes the best red.
As an owner of a Soul Red CX-30 Turbo, there was only one choice when it came to color, and it had to be soul red. And just like my soul the paint is incredibly fragile and needs constant maintenance.
I have a Soul Red Metallic (2017) Mazda 6. This is the most fragile paint I have ever seen. If you look at it wrong, pieces just fall off. New off the lot I took it to a co-worker who details cars to buff out all the swirl marks from the dealership swirl-o-matic car “washing” system.
I have a Soul Red 2015 Mazda 6 as well. A few years ago I got rear-ended really badly, so the whole rear-end had to be replaced. Body shop said it was up there with the most difficult paint jobs they’ve ever had to blend. They had to keep it an extra week because they had to start over. They ended up doing a fantastic job, but apparently the process involves a LOT of coats, which leads to the super hard paint. Mazda’s paint jobs are very prone to chipping. My 2021 6 in white has the same problem.
When I bought my CX-9, the signature model had a gorgeous auburn leather interior but only came in super boring paint colors. The grand touring could be had in soul red (yum!) but had a boring black interior. The service advisor told me he got tons of complaints about the durability of the soul red paint. So I went with the signature’s nicer interior and boring gray paint.
Turns out even this gray paint is the wimpiest, most finicky paint I’ve had on any car I’ve ever owned. I love everything else about the car, but it gets swirled or scratched every time some passerby breathes on it!
I feel your pain. At least you didn’t pay extra for Souless Gray Metallic.
Oh God that might be the worst part. The free colors were black or white. Machine Gray (aka Soulless Gray Metallic) was a $300 option!
Deep Crystal Blue Mica is just as bad. My mom’s car looked stunning when new, but after only 30K miles the paint needs some heavy correction
Hm, my wife’s 2019 CX-5 is deep crystal blue mica and it still looks like new after 70k miles. She does wash it frequently at a touchless drive-thru wash and it is garaged at home which certainly helps. But this is in central Texas, so when it is in the sun, it is getting baked.
hers is garaged, it’s a 2018 but there are heavy swirl marks from machine washing. I don’t think she’s ever had her CX-3 polished, though. Worth trying at this point
Car washes with brushes are almost guaranteed to swirl your paint. Find a brushless if you can.
This is starting to make me wonder whether I should invest in a clear wrap if I were ever to get a new Mazda (which is not out of the realm of possibility).
I bought the car with that color knowing full well that it’d have issues. You can either spend the $$$ on PPF or admit you’ll have to spend some time at least twice a year to fix up the chips inbetween waxes. Swirls haven’t been an issue but I self-service at a place with a wand with spot-free rinse and keep contact washes to a minimum.