New MX-5 RF to dominate sales

Mazda Australia is convinced that the Retractable Fastback version of the MX-5 will be a hit, commanding about 60 per cent of the sports car’s national sales.

Available from February, the RF brings a spot of sophistication to the MX-5 fold, thanks in part to retractable hard-top roof that can be stowed or raised in 13 seconds.

Despite an added $6500 premium over the entry-level price of the equivalent soft-top ($4000 if you compare like-for-like 2.0-litre engines) more than half of all future MX-5 sales will be in favour of the RF, says Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak.

“At this stage we’re calling probably 60 per cent hard top,” he said, citing global research which suggested a slightly older demographic will chase after the RF.

“If you remember when we brought out the hard top previously, we became 100 per cent hard top. That was just the demand.”

Chief among the changes to the RF, in Australia at least, is Mazda’s decision not to offer a 1.5-litre base model engine as it does on the regular Roadster. Doak said he couldn’t imagine the decision affecting sales of the RF too much, but pointed out that the 1.5-litre would still make up an important part of the soft-top line-up.

“There’s always going to be a 1.5-litre soft-top version. I can’t imagine that’s going to go anywhere,” he said.

“If it moves one way or another it doesn’t matter. We’re not locked into it and we can just order on demand basically.

“Initially there will be a lot of demand for RF and it will have that momentum in the first few months on sale, so customers will concentrate very heavily on that.”

Mazda has ruled out more immediate variants of the MX-5, in particular significant engine derivatives. Asked whether the new turbocharged-petrol engine from the CX-9 could be slotted into MX-5, a spokesman said “definitely not – it’s simply about fitting with the car and its philosophy”.