2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata production model info
06-23-2005 | 06:27 PM
#45
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Wannabe yuppie
Joined: Dec 2000
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From: Madison, WI
I think the Sport will be the most popular trim level.
With the NB, to get stuff like the 6-speed transmission and LSD you had to step up to the LS, which brought with it a bunch of stuff like leather and Bose stereo. (The small exception here being the '99 sport, a limited-production model with 5-speed, sport suspension and LSD that was made in small quantities before the LS model was introduced for '00).
There's loads of people who want stuff like the 6-speed transmission and LSD but don't need frufru like leather seats and Bose stereo. So a Sport with Suspension package works out to a hair under 23k sticker price. The folks who want the leather seats and Bose and whatnot can still get those things, and they carry a higher price tag, but the performance features are available to the people who want a quick street car.
The one thing I think Mazda should have done but didn't, was make the Suspension package available on the Club Spec. Then you get the cheapest, lightest variant of the car with the 5-speed (which the autocrossers tend to prefer), with no AC from the factory, and it has the Bilstein shocks and LSD, and is totally eligible for stock class. Granted that'd be a limited market, but if they're offering the Club Spec at all they might as well offer it in the configuration the autocrossers really want.
With the NB, to get stuff like the 6-speed transmission and LSD you had to step up to the LS, which brought with it a bunch of stuff like leather and Bose stereo. (The small exception here being the '99 sport, a limited-production model with 5-speed, sport suspension and LSD that was made in small quantities before the LS model was introduced for '00).
There's loads of people who want stuff like the 6-speed transmission and LSD but don't need frufru like leather seats and Bose stereo. So a Sport with Suspension package works out to a hair under 23k sticker price. The folks who want the leather seats and Bose and whatnot can still get those things, and they carry a higher price tag, but the performance features are available to the people who want a quick street car.
The one thing I think Mazda should have done but didn't, was make the Suspension package available on the Club Spec. Then you get the cheapest, lightest variant of the car with the 5-speed (which the autocrossers tend to prefer), with no AC from the factory, and it has the Bilstein shocks and LSD, and is totally eligible for stock class. Granted that'd be a limited market, but if they're offering the Club Spec at all they might as well offer it in the configuration the autocrossers really want.
06-24-2005 | 10:48 AM
#46
530i
Joined: Jan 2003
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The fact that the Club Sport doesnt have an LSD or Bilsteins is like Caddy making a "geriatric package" and neglecting to put a Landau roof, gold trim and whitewalls on it.
Last edited by MrFatbooty; 06-24-2005 at 01:50 PM.
06-28-2005 | 03:05 PM
#47
Thread Starter
Wannabe yuppie
Joined: Dec 2000
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From: Madison, WI
Mazda North American Operations is expecting to sell 10,000 units of its all-new MX-5 (Miata) annually, a number hampered by available capacity.
“Worldwide production is going to be about 40,000 units in the total scheme of things, year-to-year, full-on production,” Robert Davis, MNAO senior vice president of development, research and quality, tells Ward’s here at the vehicle’s preview.
“We’re probably looking at 10,000 units in the U.S. The big holdback this year will be the availability, just like Mazda3. We expect to basically not have any availability for more than a year based on what the dealers are telling us and what the existing Mazda owner base is telling us.”
It is a persistent problem for the auto maker these days. Davis says Mazda is “on a sold-out condition on a lot of our vehicle lines. You just sit there and throw your hands up in the air.”
He says at least 20,000 additional Mazda3s easily could be sold in the U.S. this year “if we could build them.” Mazda has sold 43,808 of the compact cars in the U.S. through May, a 33.2% increase from year-ago.
“I’d love to have another plant…at this point anywhere,” including North America, Davis says, but adds there is no serious talk of adding a manufacturing facility.
The ’06 MX-5 will face off against the new Pontiac Solstice 2-seater from General Motors Corp., and later, against Solstice’s twin, the Saturn Sky roadster.
As to claims by GM that it will sell 20,000 units of Solstice annually, Davis says, “Talk is cheap. When they talk 700,000 (the number of MX-5s sold worldwide to date),” GM will have numbers to flaunt.
Davis downplays the early hype for the Solstice. “I think the buzz is only building in Detroit. You don’t hear the buzz really anywhere else,” he says, adding the vehicle still is a few months from hitting the market.
However, he diplomatically says Mazda “welcomes Solstice.”
Gary Roudebush, group manager-passenger car platforms, agrees, telling Ward’s the Solstice will generate more interest, as well as competition, in the roadster segment.
Meanwhile, Roudebush says he expects the MX-5’s Grand Touring trim, which begins at $24,435, to make up the majority (60%-70%) of early sales. The entry-level Club Spec trim should comprise just 5% of the overall tally, with the other four trim levels: MX-5, Touring, Sport and 3rd Generation Limited, to account for 5%-10% of sales each.
Average buyer age should dip slightly, to 50 years of age from 55, with the current generation MX-5, he says.
At launch, Roudebush expects 60% male buyers, most of them married.
Advertising is set to launch in September, but most U.S. dealers should have the MX-5 by August, says Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO.
Davis says there will be a heavy focus on prior customers at launch, as Mazda must make “sure we take care of the customers that brought us to the party.”
To that end, Mazda plans to host about 30 MX-5 enthusiasts here in Hawaii, giving them a chance to test-drive the third-generation model.
“We’ve never done it before,” says a spokesman, adding he would be surprised if any other manufacturer had a large enough club following to do so.
Five of the enthusiasts are from the U.S., representing each of the five regions that comprise Mazda’s U.S. Advisory Council. Ten enthusiasts will come from Japan, as well as one from Canada.
http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_capacit...azda/index.htm
“Worldwide production is going to be about 40,000 units in the total scheme of things, year-to-year, full-on production,” Robert Davis, MNAO senior vice president of development, research and quality, tells Ward’s here at the vehicle’s preview.
“We’re probably looking at 10,000 units in the U.S. The big holdback this year will be the availability, just like Mazda3. We expect to basically not have any availability for more than a year based on what the dealers are telling us and what the existing Mazda owner base is telling us.”
It is a persistent problem for the auto maker these days. Davis says Mazda is “on a sold-out condition on a lot of our vehicle lines. You just sit there and throw your hands up in the air.”
He says at least 20,000 additional Mazda3s easily could be sold in the U.S. this year “if we could build them.” Mazda has sold 43,808 of the compact cars in the U.S. through May, a 33.2% increase from year-ago.
“I’d love to have another plant…at this point anywhere,” including North America, Davis says, but adds there is no serious talk of adding a manufacturing facility.
The ’06 MX-5 will face off against the new Pontiac Solstice 2-seater from General Motors Corp., and later, against Solstice’s twin, the Saturn Sky roadster.
As to claims by GM that it will sell 20,000 units of Solstice annually, Davis says, “Talk is cheap. When they talk 700,000 (the number of MX-5s sold worldwide to date),” GM will have numbers to flaunt.
Davis downplays the early hype for the Solstice. “I think the buzz is only building in Detroit. You don’t hear the buzz really anywhere else,” he says, adding the vehicle still is a few months from hitting the market.
However, he diplomatically says Mazda “welcomes Solstice.”
Gary Roudebush, group manager-passenger car platforms, agrees, telling Ward’s the Solstice will generate more interest, as well as competition, in the roadster segment.
Meanwhile, Roudebush says he expects the MX-5’s Grand Touring trim, which begins at $24,435, to make up the majority (60%-70%) of early sales. The entry-level Club Spec trim should comprise just 5% of the overall tally, with the other four trim levels: MX-5, Touring, Sport and 3rd Generation Limited, to account for 5%-10% of sales each.
Average buyer age should dip slightly, to 50 years of age from 55, with the current generation MX-5, he says.
At launch, Roudebush expects 60% male buyers, most of them married.
Advertising is set to launch in September, but most U.S. dealers should have the MX-5 by August, says Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO.
Davis says there will be a heavy focus on prior customers at launch, as Mazda must make “sure we take care of the customers that brought us to the party.”
To that end, Mazda plans to host about 30 MX-5 enthusiasts here in Hawaii, giving them a chance to test-drive the third-generation model.
“We’ve never done it before,” says a spokesman, adding he would be surprised if any other manufacturer had a large enough club following to do so.
Five of the enthusiasts are from the U.S., representing each of the five regions that comprise Mazda’s U.S. Advisory Council. Ten enthusiasts will come from Japan, as well as one from Canada.
http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_capacit...azda/index.htm