We’ve told you before. Now, with the Mazda CX-8 making its proper debut, we’ll tell you one more time after yet more confirmation from Mazda.
The Mazda CX-8 is not coming to America.
Mazda has its reasons.
Consider the fact that Mazda already offers a three-row utility vehicle in America that already lacked decent third-row ingress/egress. Mazda worked to fix the CX-9’s entry port for the 2018 model year, as we reported yesterday. Now consider the fact that the Mazda CX-8 is six inches shorter, bumper to bumper, than the Mazda CX-9 and five inches narrower.
Do American SUV/crossover buyers really want a smaller CX-9? No.
But Mazda does have a problem. The brand is increasingly reliant on its three crossovers for volume, but as Mazda expands its global crossover portfolio, the company is not expanding its crossover footprint in America. Moreover, Mazda’s increasing reliance on crossovers comes largely on the back of one model: the popular CX-5.
It appears as though growth of the second-generation CX-9 has stalled short of Mazda’s targets in the United States. The CX-3, meanwhile, is suffering from decreased demand and owns less than 3 percent of America’s subcompact crossover category.
If not the CX-8, Mazda could use something like the China-only CX-4 to bolster its crossover lineup in crossover-hungry America. But it is not to be.
Mazda begins taking Japanese orders for the CX-8 today, September 14th, though sales deliveries don’t commence until December 14, 2017. Mazda says taxes-in pricing begins at ¥3,196,800 ($26,914). Mazda intends to sell 1,200 CX-8s per month in its home market, where the brand is increasingly linked to diesel engines.
In fact, the CX-8 is powered exclusively by a 2.2-liter diesel generating 188 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed automatic is standard; all-wheel drive is optional. Suspension parts carry over from the CX-9, but Mazda says “damping and other parameters have been tuned especially for the CX-8.”
A six-passenger layout, rather than the seven-passenger format, is available. Mazda says there is 8.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row or 20.2 with the third row folded. That’s down 42 percent and 47 percent, respectively, from the 14.4 cubic feet and 38.2 cubic feet offered in the CX-9, which isn’t sold in Japan. On the WLTC cycle, the 2018 Mazda CX-8 AWD is rated at 36 miles per gallon combined.
[Images: Mazda]
Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars and Instagram.
OK..I have a solution…sell this as the 2020 CX5..get rid of the third row. Say you have updated and now its actually the size it should have been.
We dont need a cx-8, we need a Cx-7 that ford edge, grand cherokee sized. Just give us a big luxurious 5 seater with tons of 2nd row legroom
Exactly!
Who in hell was even asking for the 8!?
Agreed on all points.
I’m hoping they’re working on it, but if they are it’s a really well-kept secret. Considering how they love to brag about “what’s coming”, I just don’t think it’s happening. Which just reinforces my opinion that other than VW, no manufacturer is more clueless about the US market than Mazda.
More crossovers to pay for an a new RX7!
25 years ago it seemed like Mazda could have been on its way to becoming the Japanese Porsche. Maybe it still can be?
Japanese Porsche? Not a chance. Porches have power, and a really solid dealer network.
And I wouldn’t hold my breath for an RX-anything.
This sounds like it could be either a new CX-5, or named here as the new CX-7? Maybe just leave the third row option off completely.
Mazda will soon be on life support in North America. People simply aren’t buying what they’re trying to sell on any level.
I’ve thought that, too, but there is a long list of mfrs with smaller market share.
However, most of them are *not* independent, which means they can share development resources within the mother company, unlike Mazda.
I keep hearing and reading this (i.e., that Mazda just doesn’t get the US market and/or they don’t sell here), but they sell like crazy in Southern California. I don’t know what makes this region of the US so friendly for Mazda, but I see just as many CX-5s and Mazda3s as I do any combination of Civic/Accord/CRVs or Corolla/Camry/RAV4s. Judging by the streets of LA and Orange County, you’d think Mazda was one of the top car manufacturers around the world.
Come to my driveway and you will see 3 Mazdas. And it ain’t no California
Mazda make a profit, so hardly on life support. Mazda also builds cars for other companies and has an alliance with Toyota. They are not going anywhere, to the obvious disappointment of some here and Tim Can. Why Can fixated on the CX8, no one asked for it to come to the US and Mazda are capable, as others do, if building some country specific cars.
First side impression ….I thought it was a 2017 Honda CRV
CX-8:
193″ L x 72.4″ W x 69″ H, 115.4″ wheelbase
CX-9:
199″ x 77″ 69″, same 115.4″ wheelbase
Kia Sorento:
187″ x 74″ x 66″, 109.4″
Don’t bring facts into Cain’s continual complaints about the CX8 :-)
Add a manual and I’ve found my Mazda 5 replacement!