Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Mazda Motor Corp. saw domestic orders for its newly redesigned CX-5 sport utility vehicle hit 17,000 units roughly three months after its launch in May, according to the Japanese automaker.
This redesigned model is off to a strong start, considering Mazda's initial domestic sales target was 2,000 units per month.
This marked the first time in nine years the CX-5 was fully redesigned in Japan. The vehicle became larger, and the interior space has been expanded.
According to Mazda, the vehicle's customer base is expanding, particularly among younger consumers. New customers make up about half of recent orders, and that figure rises to over 60% when accounting for buyers in their 20s and younger.
The automaker's domestic sales have been decreasing in recent years, totaling 144,000 units for the fiscal year ended March 2026 -- a 5.3% decrease from the previous fiscal year. Mazda expects the new CX-5 to help boost its domestic sales, predicting they will grow by 6.1% to 153,000 units in the fiscal year ending March 2027.
The CX-5 holds the key to the automaker's future as a mainstay model that accounts for about 30% of global sales. While the domestic market has gotten off to a strong start, the company is struggling in its main market, the United States. According to Mazda's U.S. arm, August sales for the CX-5 fell 17.9% year on year to 9,657 units. The latest model was released in the United States in March, but sales have since fallen short of the previous year's figures.
Mazda Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Guyton analyzed the U.S. market and said that consumer sentiment has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years as of June due to soaring gasoline prices and persistently high interest rates. The automaker will focus its efforts on promoting the value of the new CX-5 to drive growth, Guyton added.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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