Are You One of the Eight People Who Bought a Mazda MX-30 Last Month?

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Photo: Mazda

Mazda’s July sales numbers were released a few days ago, and while they aren’t pretty (total sales are down 28.5 percent from a year ago) one thing sticks out as particularly ugly: MX-30 sales.

The Japanese manufacturer sold just eight examples of its limited-range electric crossover last month. Were you one of those eight buyers? Can you conduct your entire life’s business within a 50-mile radius of your home? WHO ARE YOU!?

I suppose we know one thing about you: you’re from California. That’s the only state where the MX-30 is sold.

If you’re one of these elite eight, you proudly added to the total number of MX-30s sold this year: 324. Is this something you meant to do?

You must have had a good look at all the competition, and said to yourself, “I like all of them, but I want something that costs more with less range.” And man oh man did you find it.

What drove you to this purchasing decision? I mean, Mazda even says you should only buy an MX-30 if you already have another car… provided the other car isn’t another MX-30. Did you, my dear MX-30 owner, already have a new Toyota Camry in the garage? It costs about the same as the Mazda, but offers six times the driving range with a full tank of gas. Six times!

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Screenshot: Google Maps

And with a mere 100 miles of battery range, the MX-30 won’t be your go-to vehicle if you need to drive, say, from Wasco to Tulare and back. That’s a total distance of 100.2 miles. It’s just outside the range of the MX-30.

It’s not like your Mazda was a bargain proposition, either. The CX-30 rings in around $35,000 before EV tax incentives — way more than a Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf, both of which offer more than twice the battery range of the MX-30.

If you’re Mazda and you’re reading this, look on the bright side. At least you sold eight more MX-30s that last year… when it wasn’t on sale.

But hey, who am I? Maybe you love your MX-30. Maybe your life fits exactly into what this Mazda can provide. In that case, mazel tov. Feel free to brag to your neighbors about the fact that your MX-30 is way rarer than an Audi R8: Audi sold 30 of those in June, more than three times as many as your MX-30.