At Jalopnik, we’re big fans of Mazda. We love the Miata.It may also be our unofficial mascot. We also regularly encourage friends and family to buy Mazdas because they are great cars. I am personally responsible for at least five times selling CX-5 and a couple of Mazda 3s. It was great to see Mazda announce that sales were up 13 percent for the year. Come on Mazda! Except I saw Mazda’s latest ad, and wow. If this is what Mazda thinks will increase sales, they’re going to be disappointed.
It’s no secret that Mazda is trying to move upmarket and it really seems to be working. It even replaces the CX-9 with the CX-90, and with rear-wheel drive platform and turbocharged inline six-cylinder engineIt’s clear that Mazda is aiming to take sales from the Germans. CX-70 The ad below is just a CX-90 without the third row. So how do they sell it? With an awkward comparison to Audi.
The ad opens with the line, “Mazda’s performance, ingenious design, and exquisitely crafted details will make you wonder, ‘Does a Mazda look like an affordable Audi, or does an Audi look like a more expensive Mazda?’” And that’s it. That’s the ad. The car drives off, and you see a “Learn More” graphic on the screen.
I mean, I get what Mazda is trying to say here, but there are so many better ways to do it. It takes a certain amount of boldness to take on a luxury segment with so many established competitors, and Mazda shouldn’t shy away from that. But at the same time, no one ever wonders if Mazda isn’t basically a more affordable Audi. Those cars are great, but I really don’t think people consider Mazda a true luxury brand right now. A step up from Honda or Toyota, sure, but not a true luxury brand.
Even if Mazda had stuck to the same general concept and compared the CX-70 to the Audi Q5, there are better ways to convey that message. The wording is awkward, and the ad itself doesn’t have much of a luxury feel. It’s entirely possible that I’m wrong, and this ad is driving new buyers into dealerships every day, but I doubt it.
