Dealers say Mazda has stopped selling the 2.0-litre atmo engine
For reasons known only to itself, Mazda Australia has stopped selling its cheapest, base engine - the stalwart of the entry-level CX-5, Mazda3 and CX-30. Too bad if you've been waiting patiently with one on order for several months now. Here's what happened...
You can be sure Hyundai, Kia and Toyota are all rejoicing the ‘news’ that Mazda has chosen to stop selling its base petrol engine.
According to dealership contacts AutoExpert won't name, but which have been cross-referenced with at two dealerships, Mazda Australia has unceremoniously, quietly dropped the two-litre naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder engine from the likes of the entry-level CX-5 and Mazda 3.
Effectively, in terms of what you can actually buy in the base models of each respective model range, it’s now the 2.5 naturally-aspirated 4. There is some vague suggestion that 2-litre production might re-commence in second or third quarter of 2023, perhaps if there's a grand alignment of the planets - but you’ll have to wait and see. Just don’t hold your breath.
Mazda CX-5 can still be ‘built’ and ‘priced’ on the website with a 2.0L engine, as of 11am September 16, 2022.
We will have to wait and see if this is bad news for anyone who already has a 2.0-litre engined Mazda on order, because if you do, that order just stalled on the grid for some indeterminate period.
If you would like to upgrade to the 2.5 instead, you're going to have to delay your order even further, and you're highly likely going to have to pay more money, around four or five grand more in the case of the CX-5 mid-size SUV and about three thousand dollars more in the case of buying a Mazda3.
The difference there is that the 2.5 is packaged with all-wheel drive in the CX-5, while the two-litre is the front-wheel drive wheelspin special. Basically, there's extra drivetrain bits with the 2.5 in the CX-5. You also get cylinder deactivation in the 2.5.
Mazda Australia’s website, as of 10am September 16, 2022 - still allows you to build & order a Mazda 3 poverty pack 2.0L.
This news means that Mazda's closest three competitors, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota, can now offer something Mazda cannot - the much maligned ‘cheap base model’. You know, the one every fleet manager ever leverages in order to do their job as proficiently as possible.
Perversely, on its website today, Mazda Australia is still going to allow you to build and price the 2-liter version of the CX-5 and Mazda3, which is pretty misrepresentative conduct, I'd suggest - if what our dealer contacts are telling us is actually true. It hardly reeks of transparency, does it?
Mazda is, at the very least, highlighting the delivery delay problem, stating:
DELIVERY DELAYS
Due to high demand combined with global supply chain delays, delivery times for 2.0L Pure, Evolve, Evolve M Hybrid, Touring and Touring SP variants are currently much longer than usual.
This may result in a different specification and/or different price point at the time of delivery. Contact your local dealer to know more.
But still offering customers the option to order - and therefore enter into a contractual agreement of some kind - the smaller engine, with the likelihood of it becoming unavailable, seems interesting (to put it lightly).
Is it arbitrarily upselling consumers to a more expensive model by way of removing the lowest entry point? Perhaps there are lots of fleet orders on the books where an extra couple of grand isn’t too steep of an ask, speculating of course. This kind of thing wouldn’t go down as well with private buyers, although they tend to buy mid-spec or top-spec models anyway, generally speaking.
For more on this story, watch the full report above. Click here if you want to know more about Mazda’s SkyActiv 2.5 turbo engine >> in CX-9 and CX-5, or why Wheels Car of the Year 2021 was wrong >>.
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Mazda’s CX-70 is a large five-seat SUV with generous legroom, loads of equipment and a supremely comfortable ride. It’s one of four new additions to the brand’s prestige model onslaught, but for a fraction the price of a premium German SUV.