Bad news for fans of Mazda’s small crossover and long-running sport sedan. Mazda has announced today that both will be getting the ax for the 2022 model year.
In a statement, the company pretty much said that changing consumer tastes were the reason Mazda is getting rid of the models.
“As consumer interests continue to evolve, Mazda will discontinue CX-3 and Mazda6 for the 2022 model year. Although these two vehicles will be leaving our lineup, we are proud of the performance, design, quality, and safety they contributed to our brand.”
The CX-3 getting the ax isn’t surprising. Since its 2015 introduction, sales of the small crossover were ok, not anything to brag about that’s for sure. It consistently sold just over 16,000 every year between 2017 to 2019 when it sold 16,229. 2020 saw a major sales drop with just 8,335 sold. The introduction of the CX-30 at the beginning of 2020 may have confused some as it wasn’t much bigger than the CX-3. It didn’t make sense to have both of them around. And it became even clearer that the CX-3 would be leaving because only one trim level of the CX-3 was available for 2021 and ’21. The CX-30 was also recently updated with the new 2.5-liter turbo engine, another mark against the existence of the CX-3.
The 6 going away is surprising. It’s been a staple in the Mazda lineup for almost 20 years, with the current generation debuting in 2012 with a refresh in 2018. The last couple of years got enthusiasts excited about it again. Rumors were that the next-gen of the 6 was coming with a straight-six engine and a new RWD platform. This still could be coming as a next-generation 6 or a whole new model altogether. I reached out to Mazda for more information and unfortunately got the typical “We can’t comment on future product plans.” response. With sedans dying, it’ll be missed. Luckily Mazda just gave it the option of their new 2.5-liter turbo engine. So go try it now before it’s gone.
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