Has Mazda Lost its Zoom-Zoom?

[r4mi5awi]

On this episode of Wide Open Throttle, Angus MacKenzie, Scott Mortara, Carlos Lago, Michael Febbo, and Mike Floyd look at the future of Mazda and how its new products such as the Mazda 6 and impending MX-5 replacement will determine the direction the company is headed.

The crew also voice their opinions on the upcoming Chevy SS and discuss the possibility of SUVs from Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9XXmAfIGnM

These guys bring up some good points. What do you guys think?

[kilo4321]

I also think they made some very good points about Mazda. And I do actually see us losing all our "zoom zoom" all together within the next 5 - 7 years if they continue the way they're going. And yes, I see ford stealing our zoom like they said...
:(

[mParsonz]

Still blown away the Mazda's in 2014 will be built in Mexico, like come on.. Pretty disappointing.

[standsideways]

Still blown away the Mazda's in 2014 will be built in Mexico, like come on.. Pretty disappointing.

Only 3 of mazda's 20 factories they own are in japan for what its worth.

You have to remember the fact that manufacturers make different vehicles for different markets, and rhd/lhd, different regulations for different markets etc etc so when you become a bigger player in the auto world you have to be smart about production costs to stay up!

Every manufacturer that mass produces cars has to do it to make money.

The stuff mazda japan CARES about gets made in japan.. The disposable base cheap 2's and 3's get made in Mexico sure, makes sense... The people that buy those don't care where the car was "assembled"

You wont see the high end models being produced in mexico i dont think.

[JonsMazda]

Still blown away the Mazda's in 2014 will be built in Mexico, like come on.. Pretty disappointing.

Does that mean cheaper price for us consumers??

[The Wolf]

Does that mean cheaper price for us consumers??

lol, not likely. The savings are never passed on to the consumer..

[thanu31]

Does that mean cheaper price for us consumers??

already pretty cheap

[r4mi5awi]

To me it doesn't matter where the car is built if the auto-manufacturer and engineers have designed a mechanically sound vehicle. Would you care if your BMW X5/X6 or Z4 is assembled in South Carolina? or Mercedes M/GL or R-class in Alabama? The next 2014 VW GTI and next Mercedes C-class will be assembled here in NA. Mazda makes good quality vehicles, it doesn't bother me one bit unless discrepancies of quality-control by region are proven or found.

[peterm15]

Although im pro building these things in Canada. I can see the apprehension.

The extra cost of unionized labour probably out weighs the cost of shipping. Plus the reports that came out last year when the workers were caught getting drunk and stoned on lunch is not to pleasing either. More so when it wasnt the first time.

[aris]

I will never buy a car that was made in Mexico.... NEVER!!!

[Cab0oze]

I will never buy a car that was made in Mexico.... NEVER!!!

Why? That is just being ridiculous... and the components are still probably made in japan, I'm assuming its just final assembly that is being done in mexico. That's like saying I you wouldn't buy anything made in China.... even though almost everything you buy IS made in china, or at least at the component level.
Mexico's quality is just fine, and its where a lot of manufacturing is moving to. Everything is still designed to mazda spec, the workers are trained by pros, etc.

In the end it should still come down to the same thing as always - how much car you get for your money.

[aris]

Why? That is just being ridiculous... and the components are still probably made in japan, I'm assuming its just final assembly that is being done in mexico. That's like saying I you wouldn't buy anything made in China.... even though almost everything you buy IS made in china, or at least at the component level.
Mexico's quality is just fine, and its where a lot of manufacturing is moving to. Everything is still designed to mazda spec, the workers are trained by pros, etc.

In the end it should still come down to the same thing as always - how much car you get for your money.

their is quality control their...

if you want to buy a car that was made in Mexico then go a head... I wouldn't!!

[The Wolf]

Made in Mexico:

Cadillac Escalade EXT
Cadillac SRX
Chevrolet Avalanche
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet HHR
Chevrolet Silverado and Silverado Hybrid
Dodge Journey
Fiat 500
Ford Fiesta
Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid
GMC Sierra, Sierra Hybrid and Sierra Crew Cab
Honda CR-V
Lincoln MKZ and MKZ Hybrid
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Versa
Ram 2500/3500/4500/5500
Toyota Tacoma
Saab 9-4X
Volkswagen Jetta/Jetta SportWagen


Honestly over in Japan is not like Mazdas are being built by Japanese samurai, they're being built by factory workers in low-class jobs. Only difference is in Mexico, factory work isn't a "low-class job". It's the same people in a different part of the world.

Case for Mexico: the Toyota Tacoma is probably the best truck out there in its class, and holds its value extremely well.

Also, remember when the Jetta came down in price to like 14k a little over a year ago? Perhaps Mazdas will do the same?

[Cab0oze]

their is quality control their...
There****

Mexican quality control is just as good as japanese quality control. Give someone a checklist full of pass/fail criteria, they will go thru it just the same as anyone else in the world. Mazda makes the pass fail criteria (with tolerances just as tight as they would use in japan), so the quality ends up being the same.... so quit being racist.

FYI a lot of aircraft manufacturing has been outsourced to mexico, china etc for years, and aircraft parts have the strictest level of quality control in the world

Besides, do you have any first hand experience with bad mexican quality control?
I thought not ;)

[tmpz]

If it's made in Mexico, does that the Freight/PDI charge will be less?

[aris]

Besides, do you have any first hand experience with bad mexican quality control?
I thought not ;)


You don't know me so How can think I don't?

[Cab0oze]

You don't know me so How can think I don't?
Its an educated guess, because I've heard tons of people bitching about the same thing and after some discussion it always became clear they had no idea what they were talking about ;)

Since you didn't reply with proof, I'm going to guess you're just shooting in the dark and have no actual proof lol

[aris]

Its an educated guess, because I've heard tons of people bitching about the same thing and after some discussion it always became clear they had no idea what they were talking about ;)

Since you didn't reply with proof, I'm going to guess you're just shooting in the dark and have no actual proof lol
I'm at work so I can't reply as quick...

My parents Mercedes was made in Germany and that car went over 400,000km with no issues until my dad wrote the car off... Some of my dads friends had Mercedes that was made in Mexico and alway issues.... They bought another Mercedes and it was made in Germany and it's beeing good to with no issues

fir this reason I won't buy a car made in Mexico ...

[r4mi5awi]

Back on topic, I feel Mazda may need to continue producing partnerships with other manufactures to stay economically viable and afloat. Aside from Fiat, I hope a partnership in Japan with Nissan would be beneficial for both companies in terms of research and development. Just imagine, the Nissan-Leaf EV architecture can pave development for an EV Miata or MZ2/MZ3. And maybe Mercedes-Benz can get in the mix, and let Mazda part-source some engine internals. One can only hope :P

[Pyro]

There****

Mexican quality control is just as good as japanese quality control. Give someone a checklist full of pass/fail criteria, they will go thru it just the same as anyone else in the world. Mazda makes the pass fail criteria (with tolerances just as tight as they would use in japan), so the quality ends up being the same.... so quit being racist.

FYI a lot of aircraft manufacturing has been outsourced to mexico, china etc for years, and aircraft parts have the strictest level of quality control in the world

Besides, do you have any first hand experience with bad mexican quality control?
I thought not ;)

I have to disagree , Japan specifically has a very strong work ethic and many more people work hard in Japan vs north america where, as mentioned before, auto workers get high or drunk on the job. I'm friends with someone who worked at the Chrysler plant in the summer back in high school who did exactly that.

Even if a company has a qa program that doesn't mean the plant will always follow it...look at the mall that collapsed in Canada , there were safety codes in place to prevent this but they weren't followed http://ca.news.yahoo.com/inquiry-lethal-collapse-northern-ontario-mall-kicks-off-090011634.html

It doesn't mean that the quality is definitely going to go down as long as Mazda controls it, but I would argue that its a lot more likely to have higher number defects per hundred cars or whatever metric they use. Aircraft companies can probably control the quality very well and I personally don't think that car companies will be able to match that.

[standsideways]

^^THAT^^

[Cab0oze]

^^^^ Except that the company we're talking about is mazda - I seriously doubt they will allow any plant with their name on it to produce poor quality crap as it will ruin their brand. There was an article about it in their most recent zoom zoom mag.

[standsideways]

thats why they will simply ship all the needed parts to mexico for assembly from plants elsewhere.

The parts wont be made in mexico, but they will be assembled together by mexicans making $3/hr lol.

Rememer the Yen is BRUTAL, so if you are making high volumes of cars in japan you cannot make money without charging a premium price.

Mexican assembled they can make some money, and they want to make the money off the high volume sales cars.. Base 2's and 3's


Arent the current base 3's made in mexico and the higher models made in japan? Or first gen?

[S.F.W.]

All 1st and 2nd gen 3's are made in Japan .

[Pyro]

^^^^ Except that the company we're talking about is mazda - I seriously doubt they will allow any plant with their name on it to produce poor quality crap as it will ruin their brand. There was an article about it in their most recent zoom zoom mag.

Lol of course they would say that, you think any company will say "well we are going to make cars in Mexico and yeah they will probably break down more but look how much money we will save"

A company like Mazda that makes economy cars and a company like Boeing that make planes are on 2 different levels. Mazda can let quality go down especially since its never been their selling point. Any company can let their plants produce crap when 1 it takes years for problems to appear and 2 you spent millions of dollars moving your operations in the first place

[Nova 3 GT]

Why? That is just being ridiculous... and the components are still probably made in japan, I'm assuming its just final assembly that is being done in mexico. That's like saying I you wouldn't buy anything made in China.... even though almost everything you buy IS made in china, or at least at the component level.
Mexico's quality is just fine, and its where a lot of manufacturing is moving to. Everything is still designed to mazda spec, the workers are trained by pros, etc.

In the end it should still come down to the same thing as always - how much car you get for your money.

As an example, the Honda Fit was used to be Made in Japan. Now for the MY2013, it's Made in China

[standsideways]

All 1st and 2nd gen 3's are made in Japan .

Assembled in japan

Do we know how many of those mexican 2's/3's are making it to north america? I would assume alot of that is for south america/central america

[3GFX]

They bring up some great point.

The next Miata should be pointed straight at the FRS/BRZ convertible. Carve that market and retain the awesomeness of the driver car.

The rest of the stable needs to sell as is, daily driven cars for the family. The CX5-7-9 are what should be the cash cows.

A budget M3/M5 beater would be a MZ6 again. Get rid of the DISI motor and turbo charge the 6 cyl.

[5_Alive]

I watched a video on youtube regarding the new plant..
Looks promising.
People being sent to Japan for training and what not.
Also they haven't made it official, and the vehicles being assembled in Mexico are for the Central and South America market.

As for thr high end such as the Speed models, one can only hope they continue and if so, be assembled in Japan.

[genericmoniker]

Zoom zoom is still plenty alive in Mazda, drive a 2 and see for yourself. What it lacks in power it makes up for in fun. Just wish theyd market it better.

[Scottobot]

Zoom zoom is still plenty alive in Mazda, drive a 2 and see for yourself. What it lacks in power it makes up for in fun. Just wish theyd market it better.

..and price it better. ;)