dynamho

WTF?!?

His position as Mazda Europe CE[O]O is now officially questionable in my eyes, even if he maintains that it should RWD, but the fact that the issue is even being considered seems crazy.

http://www.cardealermagazine.co.uk/p...el-drive/62347

MattMPS

Waring was high IMHO....

bse50

The only logical explanation is that he smoked crack right before the interview.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Going to FWD would loose the balance of the car. That's one of the biggest selling points.

zoom44

exactly. someone needs an intervention

Ricky SE3P

iTrader: (10)

The only way the above would be "okay", is if they decided for a AWD setup.... thats my opinion.

bse50

Vote for me as the next CEO.
16x Miata and 24x rear engine rx9 anyone?

MattMPS

Galen Darkmoon

Fwd or awd would ruin the cars handling.

bse50

On a serious note... At times it looks like Mazda is still a japanese car manufacturer at heart. Their attempts to appeal to the european market always fail miserably.
Marketing wise they are subpar with the competition, prices are too high compared to what we see on other markets and there's no will to develop any brand loyalty.
They basically wait for the random customer to buy a mazda 3 instead of a focus or a golf, without really making an effort to explain to him why he's making the right choice.
Same goes for the mazda 2, there are so few on the road compared to other makes.

TALAN7

When you look at how far American car companies have come there has to be a Japanese brand that looses out more than the others. Honda and Toyota have too much perceived quality to loose out directly with America. Hyundai and Kia have improved equally as well but offer their cars as the value leaders in all segments. Nissan is too big and has good enough quality to compete. Some of the other Japanese brands are small enough to be manageable. Then we have Mazda. Big enough to not be easily managed, not smart enough to have moved their manufacturing out of japan when the bigger, more powerful asian brands did, stuck on a technology that no other brand has adopted, worst dealer network and service around. IMO Mazda needs a makeover.

Spin9k

Stange to question RWD as it won't be a sports car at all without it, global or otherwise.

Mazmart

iTrader: (12)

He added: ‘We need to go through the thought process about rear-wheel drive. It would be my argument that it has to have it, but there is the rest of the world to think about.’

The rest of what world? What rock has this guy been hiding under? He should really consider handing in his papers if he's so out of the loop. I'm glad he has very little say in comparison to others at Mazda regarding the roadster. Mazda NA and JP are the real deciders on this one. I will consider listening to his view on the next Mazda 2 or perhaps on whether they continue with the 5 but he's out in left field regarding the Mazda sports cars.

Paul.

RMXG8

iTrader: (1)

YOUR FIRED!!!!!!!!

monchie

It can't do burnouts anymore...

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Unbelievable--doesnt he is realizing he dealing with fanatics.