Surprisingly, Mazda's Push To Move Upmarket Is Actually Working

Thanks to the popularity of the CX-50 and CX-90, Mazda’s profits grew significantly in the last quarter, Automotive News reports. In fact, the Japanese automaker believes this fiscal year will be the best on record from both a profit and U.S. sales perspective.

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If its forecasts are correct, Mazda will sell about 389,000 vehicles here, which would be a 22-percent increase over the previous year. It would also set a new U.S. sales record that hasn’t been broken since 1986 when it sold just under 380,000 vehicles.

Still, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. October sales fell a little over seven percent, which the company attributes to dealers having a limited inventory of CX-5 and CX-30 crossovers on hand due to low water levels in the Panama Canal temporarily limiting shipping. Customers are also reportedly more interested in lower-trim versions of the vehicles it sells, supposedly due to higher interest rates.

Since then, dealer inventory levels have recovered, and Mazda believes interest rates are unlikely to increase significantly going forward. There’s also been plenty of demand for more profitable vehicles such as the high-end CX-90.

Obviously, things could change, and Mazda’s sales could take a dive in the future, but at least for now, it looks like Mazda has really done it. After multiple failed attempts to become more of a luxury brand, this latest push to move upmarket actually appears to be working. And you know what? We’re happy for them. For decades, Mazdas have been better than their sales figures would suggest, and it’s about time that people started buying them in larger numbers.

The downside, though, is that as Mazda becomes more of an Acura competitor than Honda and Toyota, its cars are going to become less affordable. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean the next Miata ends up being a $50,000 grand tourer. Surely, Mazda wouldn’t do that to us, right?