How many ND's will they actually sell ?

[project.r.racing]

None of that really makes any difference. Maybe 10-20% of sales. 80-90% of the market will buy is they want have have the money to do so. Only a small amount is effected by outside influences.

In the end if the car is good and the marketing is good, it will sell. Something both the 86 and BRZ had.

Right now the MX5 is being kept under raps. The marketing campaign is to keep everything secret and frustrate potential new buyers. The MX5 is gonna have to be great, cos Mazda have so far messed up the marketing.

[OurCognitiveSurplus]

1.5L would put it into the small class for hillclimbs. I could support that.

[Dan]

I really hope that it is a huge success for Mazda but i keep thinking about all the outside influences more than the car itself.

Quite a few people keep talking up the 86,BRZ but I feel the success was more about the timing in the market.
The NC was old in the tooth added with the high Aussie dollar and being a new product designed to embellish the nostalgia of the old 86.
The twins were always going to be successful.

That was then but now.

Softening labour markets , Pressure to drive the dollar down , Interest rates about to go up. Young adults living at home longer with a greater interest in Technology (phones,etc). Not to mention about wanting to jump on a plane and travel with less desire to get a licence.

I really hope that it connects with bensale's generation and gets them away from 4 wheeled appliances.

Personally this car should of been brought to the market 2 years ago...

As for the car itself i'll need to see it in the flesh to form an opinion one way or the other.
I'm just pleased they have built it.

Car sales are down slightly this year but saying timing rather than the car is the main reason the 86 was successful and why the MX5 won't be successful is making an excuse for Mazda.

Toyota made a car no-one else did previously (cheap, light, cool) and sold 6,700 86's in Australia in 2013 alone, that's more than any model MX5 has sold here in Australia over it's entire life and quadruple the best year ever for MX5 sales. Sales of the 86 are declining now but they've already sold more this year than the best year of any MX5.

I agree with Blesif who posted earlier in the thread that Mazda need to connect with a younger audience. No-one except enthusiasts and Duran Duran fans know a new MX5 is coming out whereas the hype around the 86 was intense.

[gslender]

A slow and good handling convertible isn't new. Launching the same concept as the past and saying you'll love it because we've made it better than the last model but as slow and light as the first generation 25 years ago seems confused. Not sure non enthusiasts will get it.

[Vat]

A slow and good handling convertible isn't new. Launching the same concept as the past and saying you'll love it because we've made it better than the last model but as slow and light as the first generation 25 years ago seems confused. Not sure non enthusiasts will get it.

This thing in 1.5 would murder a stock 1.6 NA.

We still don't know Australian specs or pricing. Everyone settle down.

Also - let's face it. The bulk of us here drive NA-NB MX-5's. Mazda don't give a crap about our part of the market - few of us are buying new. Yes, we track them and help build the image, but Mazda make very little from us in new car sales, and a bit in parts. We're not the target market.

[JBT]

Launching the same concept as the past and saying you'll love it because we've made it better than the last model but as slow and light as the first generation 25 years ago seems confused. Not sure non enthusiasts will get it.

The non-enthusiasts probably won't care or know any better but still buy it as a cute lifestyle car.

[Guran]

Also - let's face it. The bulk of us here drive NA-NB MX-5's. Mazda don't give a crap about our part of the market - few of us are buying new. Yes, we track them and help build the image, but Mazda make very little from us in new car sales, and a bit in parts. We're not the target market.

Don't be so sure about that. At the market focus group that I attended about six months ago, only one of the people in the room had bought a new MX-5. Of the rest, it was an even mix of NA, NB and NC owners. Mazda were VERY keen to gauge opinion on the ND from those who are still unlikely to buy a new ND.

[rjastra2]

Quite a few people keep talking up the 86,BRZ but I feel the success was more about the timing in the market.

The 86/BRZ has only been the expected success in Japan and here - because of the extremely low price point.
In markets where that favourable pricing is not present the 86/BRZ has not sold near expectations. In fact sales have declined (and are still declining) after the first year of sales. It hasn't been helped by a string of niggly quality issues.

Seeing the success of the new WRX I can imagine Subaru are thinking - why did we bother with the BRZ.

At the market focus group that I attended about six months ago, only one of the people in the room had bought a new MX-5. Of the rest, it was an even mix of NA, NB and NC owners. Mazda were VERY keen to gauge opinion on the ND from those who are still unlikely to buy a new ND.

That was just one focus group... hopefully, unlike Toyota, they have ignored existing owners and built a thoroughly modern sports that isn't some homage to the NA. You will know when the production models are release and they fit slippery all season tyres saying its makes the car handle more like a horse (horse and rider blah blah) on steel horse shoes or some such nonsense.