Dear auto gurus,
I work for a mazda dealership here in the us and I have noticed there are not that many listings for mazdas except for the old 626 and 323. They are building some nice products like the 3 series which compares favorably with the corolla and the cx 9 which won the suv of the year. They also have a compact 5 series mini van that seats 7 and has a sexier look for younger moms. Although it is a ford product a lot of the assembly is done in Japan. Any input will be greatly appreciated, because I am thinking of sending some home.

@ Poster,

The issue with Mazdas is that most mazdas are purchased in Nigeria as an "afterthought" What i mean by that is that many ppl will set out for either Honda, Toyota or Nissan and "settle" for Mazda if their money cant reach.

Dont get me wrong tho. Are there ppl who likes Mazda? No doubt. however the numbers are not too strong. If you will have to ship a 626 and a camry for about same price. Clear for close to same price why will you buy something you will be begging ppl to buy?

This forum is a "pulse check" to see hwere the market is or is goin. Nigerian are trend followers. Most ppl buy cars without rhyme or reason.

Do you remember in the early to mid 90's when Daewoo racer is the talk of the town? The car is terrible but despite that ppl buy like mad.

Think about it before you invest your money. Mazdas are great but you might have a hard time convincing ppl. Talk to inspire or Viperman and see what they say.

Here i rest.

i seem tolike mazda shapes of recent, the mazda 6 looks great but nobody buys em, its strange though.

@ promise72

Thanks for your input and I know we are creatures of habit in Nigeria as evidence by the fact we are still using the same building practice from 50 years ago. If you ever get a chance test drive either the speed 3 or speed 6 series, you will fall in love. thanks again!

@poster,
I don't know if this is a coincidence. I was thinking about this issue some days back when I went visiting to OAU, Ife. At the dental clinic car park, 80% ofthe cars parked there were Mazda. This got me asking myself that I don't know much about this car and I want to know. Is there anything about this car you can tell us.

I have seen quite a few of the mazda 3 and it looks cool. If you ship in, what price are you looking at to sell?

The Mazda line consists of the following vehicle with various trim levels:

Mazda 3 both sedan and hatchback
Mazda speed 3 (this only comes in a 6 speed manual transmission with a lot of hp and compares very favorably with any small bmw)
Mazda 5 mini suv
Mazda 6
Mazda speed 6(this also only comes in a 6 spd man. trans.)
suv lines are
Mazda Tribute
Mazda cx 7
Mazda cx 9 (this is a 7 passenger suv)

As far as price, the mazda line is in line with toyota and honda. I will post pictures at a later date.

You are missing the
MX-5 Miata


RX-8 Rotary engine
on Top Gear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRiPSlx8PxA

Yes I left those out because those sports cars will not survive Naija roads. The rotary engine is not something I would ever import to Nigeria, I speak to our techs in service and it is one horror story after another!

The thing is that people in Nigeria are used to cars which are durable. The initial cars that mazda produced like the 323s, 626s, 929s are good but the engine of these vehicles once they are bad, they cannot be repaired and this is the difference between them and the engine of Honda, Toyota etc.

Although the designs they now carry is chic but I think this is the overiding condition.