Photo: Mazda
With an EPA-estimated range of around 100 miles, the Mazda MX-30 was poised to fail, which it happened. Mazda reported only 324 units sold in 2022 in the U.S., with a miserable result of only 8 units sold in July.
Mazda surprised everyone in 2019 when it introduced its first electric vehicle at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. After all, the Japanese car industry had avoided developing electric vehicles, and giants like Toyota and Honda openly advocated against them. Mazda is a relatively modest carmaker with limited R&D resources, which it spends mostly on refining the combustion engine.
It was interesting that it chose to develop a new vehicle instead of electrifying an existing one. Maybe Mazda was seeing it as more than just a compliance EV. In that case, something terrible happened with their plans. It must’ve been expensive to develop it basically from scratch. Sure, many components are shared between different Mazda crossovers (the CX-30 features a similar platform). Still, the MX-30 has a distinctive body with a rather interesting door concept inspired by the late RX-8.
The MX-30 started on the wrong foot, even with the name. Mazda traditionally used the MX designation for their Miata roadsters and CX for crossovers. Nobody could explain why the MX-30 was named like that. Besides, the EV market was mature enough when Mazda launched the MX-30. All current Tesla models were shipping to customers, Volkswagen had their first EV on the market, and the Chevrolet Bolt was already involved in the battery recall.
All of them offered a decent range, with 200-300 miles (322-483 km) on a full charge. The Mazda MX-30, on the other hand, barely made it past the 100-mile (161-km) mark. Doug DeMuro blasted it as “disappointing and weird,” and the market indeed took notice. The Japanese carmaker posted abysmal results in July, with only 8 units of the MX-30 sold in North America.
Throughout 2022 a total of 324 were sold, which is actually a lot considering that the electric crossover is the epitome of a lemon. These add to the 181 sold last year, a rather disappointing result. Elsewhere, Mazda sales were down 28.5% in July, with almost all models in the red. The first seven months of the year don’t look any better, with a 25.1% decrease over 2021.
It was interesting that it chose to develop a new vehicle instead of electrifying an existing one. Maybe Mazda was seeing it as more than just a compliance EV. In that case, something terrible happened with their plans. It must’ve been expensive to develop it basically from scratch. Sure, many components are shared between different Mazda crossovers (the CX-30 features a similar platform). Still, the MX-30 has a distinctive body with a rather interesting door concept inspired by the late RX-8.
The MX-30 started on the wrong foot, even with the name. Mazda traditionally used the MX designation for their Miata roadsters and CX for crossovers. Nobody could explain why the MX-30 was named like that. Besides, the EV market was mature enough when Mazda launched the MX-30. All current Tesla models were shipping to customers, Volkswagen had their first EV on the market, and the Chevrolet Bolt was already involved in the battery recall.
All of them offered a decent range, with 200-300 miles (322-483 km) on a full charge. The Mazda MX-30, on the other hand, barely made it past the 100-mile (161-km) mark. Doug DeMuro blasted it as “disappointing and weird,” and the market indeed took notice. The Japanese carmaker posted abysmal results in July, with only 8 units of the MX-30 sold in North America.
Throughout 2022 a total of 324 were sold, which is actually a lot considering that the electric crossover is the epitome of a lemon. These add to the 181 sold last year, a rather disappointing result. Elsewhere, Mazda sales were down 28.5% in July, with almost all models in the red. The first seven months of the year don’t look any better, with a 25.1% decrease over 2021.
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