From Mazda North American Operations press release "Tue Oct 5 ,2:44pm ET"

Of those 100k about 32k are US sales (actual sales not sitting on dealers lots)

 

so there is 68K sitting on dealers lots? Must be a good time to buy.

 

68k includes all exported RX-8s.....some to US and others to all other countries

 

lol, no. yhe 8 is sold all over the world, not just here, silly

 

That is wonderful. Excellent news.

 

link to the source? i cant seem to find the press release.

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041005/latu121_1.html

 

thanks

 

Good news! Gaining rotary converts every in the world.

 

Here's the actual Mazda PR
------------------------------------
Mazda Motor Corporation’s four-door, four-seat sports car--the RX-8-has reached a significant production milestone: number 100,000 rolled off the Ujina No.1 final assembly line near Mazda’s corporate headquarters on September 29, 2004. This important milestone was achieved 18 months after production began in April 2003.


Mazda RX-8

Reaching 100,000 units in 18 months compares favorably with Mazda's other famous sports car, the open-top, two-seat Roadster / MX-5 / MX-5 Miata. With the Roadster, which has been recognized by the book of Guinness World Records as the world's best-selling convertible sports car, only 17 months were required to reach number 100,000.

As an entirely new type of sports car that features distinctive sports car styling and excellent performance, the Mazda RX-8 was launched in Japan in April 2003 and is now sold in over 20 countries around the globe. Cumulative sales volume as of the end of August 2004 was over 23,000 units in Japan, over 29,000 units in the US and in excess of 18,000 units in Europe.

Mazda's RX-8 is powered by the award-winning, naturally aspirated RENESIS engine. The compact, high performance rotary engine is without a doubt Mazda's spiritual soul and shortly after being launched in 2003 was named "2003 International Engine of The Year."

In total, the RX-8 and its RENESIS engine have won more than 37 important automotive awards around the globe to date, including Japan's "2004 RJC Car of The Year", "2003-2004 Most Excellent Developer Award", presented by the Japan Automobile Hall of Fame, the 2003-2004 Japan Car of the Year 'Most Fun' special award, "10 Best Cars 2004" by US's CAR AND DRIVER magazine and in Australia, "2003 Car of The Year" by Wheels magazine.

 

That's great! I hope each and every RX-8 finds a happy home.

 

Wow, that seems impressive.

The Miata created quite a sensation when it was first released, long waiting lists and big dealer mark ups. The RX-8 seems to have almost matched it in selling 100K in 18 months vs. 17 for the Miata. Hard to believe, because I still don't see that many RX-8s on the road.

It's also very interesting that Japan has almost as many sold there as in the US, because the US is a much larger market. And 37 awards, that's amazing.

 

good to hear

 

This explains why we don't see lots of RX-8s around here in Colorado. I would guess that low production numbers helps keep the value of the car up. Not at all like many GM vehicles that lose 50% of their value soon as you turn the key and pull out of a GM dealership. Proof? I leased an 04 Pontiac Grand AM piece of poor quality junk in my opinion. Got rid of it when it was 6 months old. Yes!! it was valued at 50% less than what I leased it for. Ouch! a big bite in the pocket but I knew this car would barely make it for 4 years without the interior carpet being replaced and who knows what else. Yet you see tons of these cars all over the roads here. Why I leased it is a long story but it had to do with one of my kids needing a car and he could not afford the monthly payments and so I was stuck with a car I did not want. So, I traded it in for an RX A big drastic change in cars I would say

 

That's good news in more ways than one. 30,000 units was the first year goal in the US. It may have ended up a few shy of that but I would imagine close enough to be considered a success by Mazda NA.

 

Why are a lot of sales considered good? I would be happy to never see this car coming and going. That is part of what makes it fun to drive, the exclustivity.

 

um.. so that they build an RX-7

 

...or at least continue to invest and upgrade the RX-8.

The last RX-7 died a quick a death in US due to poor sales, we don't want that to happen again.

 

More rotary cars, more people to wave at.

Like I've said before, I don't envision an RX-7 in the near future. Give time for the RX-8 to grow in power and prestige.

 

thats quite short sighted of you. maybe you need a new antenna

 

Haha. I'll admit, D2 is racking my brain. How would Mazda go about sharing the sports car podium between the RX-8 and RX-7? If we were going to have a 4th gen, please don't make it into an FD, in terms of usefulness. That car really drew the line, despite what owners say. It's the bean counters I'm worried about.

 

Yeah--the 3rd Gen was a track car for the street--but in all honesty--I found my 3rd Gen more useful than a 350Z--I used it many a time to haul stuff from Houston-New Orleans-Houston when moving in and out of school for each semester. That strut brace in the rear of the Z killed it for me. In fact this, the poor interior quality, and higher insurance is what detered me from the Z.

 

This is great news. Any idea how many 3rd Gen 7's were sold while it was here 3 years?

 

less than the first year production of the RX-8. the first year of RX-8 production was more than all the years of 3rd gen sales combined.

 

You're funny