Mazda fights Ford with new SUVs

Narrowly trailing Ford in the fight for second in the 2024 new-vehicle sales race, Mazda is looking to its all-new CX-80 seven-seat family SUV to deliver it a potential gain.

Launched with a new entry-level Pure trim level priced from $54,950 plus on-road costs leading the way, Mazda is expecting the CX-80 to contribute 650 sales per month.

According to Mazda’s forecast, it will instantly become the biggest seller among the four Large Product Group (LPG) SUVs it now offers in Australia and help fill the gulf left by the axing of the preceding CX-8 and CX-9 family SUVs.

It expects the CX-60 to accrue 550 sales per month, the flagship CX-90 around 100 and the brand new CX-70 a niche 60 sales. All up, Mazda wants the LPG quartet to deliver 1400 sales per month.

That’s up almost 1000 sales per month on what the CX-60 and CX-90 have been averaging so far in 2024.

In their last full year on sale in 2023 the CX-8 and CX-9 accounted for roughly 1000 sales per month combined.

To recap, the CX-60 is the short wheelbase, narrow-body five-seater that launched in 2023 while the CX-80 is its long wheelbase, three-row close relation.

The wide-body, five-seat CX-70 and seven-seat CX-90 sit on the same 3120mm wheelbase as the CX-80. The 70 is also the same overall length as the 90 and both are longer than the 80.

Simple really.

Ford sales are up 19.1 per cent year-on-year, riding high on the sales of its industry-leading Ranger 4x4 ute and the top 10 performance of its Everest SUV spin-off.

Mazda, which has occupied the number two slot behind Toyota in the annual sales race most of the last decade, has suffered a 4.0 per cent sales downturn year-on-year, not helped by the 13.6 per cent slump for the run-out BT-50 4x4 ute and the end of CX-8 and CX-9 duo.

An updated BT-50 arrives in early 2025.

“That [sales position] is the byproduct of market numbers,” Mazda Australia Managing Director Vinesh Bhindi told carsales.

“Our business planning is around the 100,000 [sales] mark [in the 2024 calendar year] or thereabouts and if that gives us two, three or four that’s just a byproduct.

“But what it really shows is number two is reflecting how strong the demand is for ute in the marketplaces.

“Great, we’ll have our new one and we’ll join the race from next year with the new one.”

Ford passed Mazda back in April for second-place and held a narrow 83,145 to 81,143 sales lead at the end of October.

The CX-60 and CX-90 were designed to access a new and more premium buying audience for Mazda, but have failed to hit sales forecasts, forcing Mazda to introduce lower drive-away pricing to bump up interest in the former.

If the CX-60 does hit 550 sales per month it will be the first time since its launch it has met sales forecasts – it’s currently averaging just under 350 sales per month.

Mazda has been kept in the sales fight by the performance of its affordable yet ageing CX-3, CX-30 and CX-5 SUVs and Mazda2 and Mazda3 small cars.

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