Mazda Ends Mazda5 Because There Are More Crossovers to Make
The miniature Mazda minivan — aka the Mazda5 — won’t be brought to the United States after this year, according to the automaker (via Autoblog). The small, boxy family hauler dwindled out in the U.S. (but was never less functional) because we’ll buy anything that looks like a crossover.
In unrelated news: Mazda will be showing off its new crossover concept in Frankfurt this year, dubbed the Koeru, according to Carscoops.
Thank goodness, the world could use another crossover.
Sales of the Mazda5 peaked in the U.S. market in 2008, and it never became the sales force that the Mazda Premacy had been in other countries. In the first six months of this year, Mazda had only sold about 6,800 Mazda5 models. To date, the Mazda5/Premacy has been Mazda’s best-selling minivan worldwide.
But, there are crossovers to make and sell in the hundreds of thousands.
In Frankfurt, the company will show off its crossover concept, the Koeru, which means “exceed,” although its unclear from the company’s photos how big it may be or what could be underneath its hood. Autocar speculated that the crossover would be roughly the size of a Cx-5 and would be powered by a 2.2-liter diesel engine.
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The 5 was the last six occupant vehicle sold in the U.S. that is available with a manual transmission. Able to get 30 MPG, handle like a car, seat 6, and shift your own gears made this a unique vehicle. It is also sad that the U.S. never got the "magic seat" that crammed 7 people into this thing.
I rented a 5 early this year on a business trip. It was OK, but I knew already that the crash test results were not impressive on this vehicle, and I found the road noise on the highway a bit nasty, even for someone coming from Euro type vehicles that already had plenty of aural feedback on the road. Others have mentioned the Ford Transit Connect--we just picked up a long wheelbase version last month. It lacks the turbo option that the short wheelbase version does, but we find the available power adequate and the handling is decent. Even the LWB version has a noticeably narrower/shorter footprint that the Odyssienacaravans, and what really hit it for us is that the middle seating height and accessibility is much easier for transporting my aged parents to their numerous medical appointments and occasional trips out for spirit-building. The non-minivans and just about any CUV are a much more difficult proposition for them. It's a cargo van underneath to be sure, but I have seen these also being used as people movers for medical facilities and other institutions, and I credit the easier access.