Mazda in the U.S. could have access to the Atenza station wagon body style available in Japan, but it is unlikely to appear in North America given the success of the CX5 crossover here. The new diesel engine is another matter.
Mazda Motor is now selling a revised Atenza at all Mazda and Anfini dealerships throughout Japan. The family sedan, sold elsewhere as the Mazda6, has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price range of ¥2,500,000 to ¥3,400,000 ($30,000-$41,000) including taxes, and adjusting for Japan’s current government-sponsored tax reduction program that eliminates or discounts sales and weight taxes. Mazda expects to sell 1,000 units a month for what is a large car by Japanese standards.
The Mazda6 is due in the U.S. next January where the family car market is much larger, more profitable and therefore much more competitive. Its official U.S. debut will be at the Los Angeles Auto show next week. Year-to-date Mazda has sold only 31,000 of the older design Mazda6 sedan in a segment dominated by the newly revised Toyota Camry and Honda Accord models, both of which are currently selling almost 30,000 units a month, as well as the Nissan Altima, at 26,000 a month. Now, two Japanese variations of the new Mazda6 present additional sales opportunities for Mazda’s U.S. subsidiary if the second-tier Japanese automaker is bold enough to seize them.
The family car market has never been more competitive, nor have the products been as sophisticated – good news for buyers, but not automakers and their shareholders, where the bulk of retail sale transaction prices are in the $22,000 to $30,000 range. (Offshore Brands Hold Share in U.S. Auto Sales During Stormy October)
Mazda in the U.S. could have access to the Atenza station wagon bodystyle, but it is unlikely to appear in North America given the success of the CX5 crossover SUV here and the relative lack of demand for wagons.
Mazda has already paving the way to promote the performance aspects of its new mid-size sedan with its announcement earlier that it is entering the diesel engine in European and U.S. racing classes.
The other potential Mazda “unique’ selling proposition is an engine line-up that includes the badly named Skyactiv-d 2.2. This efficient and powerful diesel engine has stop/start technology and is rated as the most efficient engine in its Japanese class, if you exclude hybrid models that Mazda notably lacks.
The new Atenza, aka Mazda6, is equipped with a 2.2-liter diesel engine rated on a Japanese test cycle (JC08) at 22.4 km/L – that is 52 mpg – with a 6-speed manual transmission and 20 km/L when fitted with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Mazda has the makings of a “best in class mpg” marketing claim here, along with another top performance claim resulting from the diesel’s torque and acceleration. The only competition in the class is the 2-liter Volkswagen Passat diesel, which is rated at 34 mpg combined on the EPA cycle, although Honda from time to time has said a U.S. diesel is possible.
The production Mazda Skyactiv-d technologies include:
- a 14:1 low (for a diesel) compression ratio
- a new two-stage turbocharger
- a 5,200 rpm redline
Compared to Mazda’s current-production 2.2-liter MZR-CD diesel engine the new diesel has:
- Up to 20% reduction in fuel consumption
- 20% reduction in internal engine friction
- 10% reduction in weight
Here, Mazda has already paved the way to promote the performance aspects of a new diesel car with its announcement earlier that it is entering the diesel engine in European and U.S. racing classes. (See AutoInformed on Mazda to Race Diesel Engines in U.S. Grand Am GX and Mazda to Supply Diesel Engines for 2013 Le Mans 24 Hour)
Complicating a U.S. diesel sales decision, though, it looks as if Mazda might be able to take on the existing VW diesel and the Japanese gasoline hybrids in the family car segment with its new gasoline engines. Atenza gasoline engine models are showing a 30% (2-liter) and 37% (2.5-liter) improvements in fuel economy compared to the previous generation Atenza powerplants. With the Hyundai Sonata hybrid now out of the 40 mpg advertising club, down rated to 39 mpg because its Korean parent company got caught falsifying EPA ratings by a much as 6 mpg at Hyundai and Kia, there’s room for Mazda to make some headline auto news in either – or both – gasoline and diesel segments and increase its sales consideration.
This battle will not be easy, though, given the marketing muscle of stronger competitors, notably Toyota, Honda and, to a lesser degree, Ford. The all-new Ford Fusion hybrid is claimed to be the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in America with EPA ratings of 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined. This is better than the Camry Hybrid (43 city, 41 highway, 39 combined) – which went on sale a year ago using older design, but proven nickel metal hydride batteries. So far, the Ford is dangerously close to vaporware because the Fusion Hybrid does not appear for sale until later in 2013.
Until the final EPA numbers are available on the new Honda Accord Hybrid sedan, which also goes on sale next year (and also uses the newer lithium ion batteries like the Fusion), Ford may or may not have a marketing claim that Fusion Hybrid will deliver the highest-ever fuel economy numbers for a midsize sedan. Unknown so far are the Mazda6 certification numbers – gas or diesel – as well. In my view, a fair comparison for all remains in the future. Ford’s P.R. assertion might turn out to be yet another dubious or at the very least an overly optimistic promise from an automaker when all the real results are in. My Mazda speculation could likewise prove inaccurate.
Atenza gasoline engine models are showing a 30% (2-liter engine) and 37% (2.5-liter) improvements in fuel economy compared to the previous generation Atenza.
Hybrids aside, the bigger marketing and sales battles in the U.S. remain centered on gasoline cars. The 2.5-liter Atenza with “Skyactiv” tweaks of improved intake air and exhaust gas flows, direct fuel injection and a higher, racing-level compression ratio is certified at 37 mpg, or +37% compared to the older iteration, on the Japanese cycle for the automatic transmission version.
Depending on how the differently calculated U.S. EPA ratings come out, the 2.5-liter Mazda6 car could end up with a mpg claim at or above 40 mpg. This means next year’s Mazda6 could take on – or even best? – the economy ratings of the Japanese Big Three, as well as the tarnished Korean Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima with their current 35 mpg highway ratings.
The new gasoline-powered Ford Fusion, which is just now ramping up in production, faces direct and much stronger competition from these Japanese and Korean competitors than the hybrid. Fusion’s 231 horsepower 2-liter “EcoBoost” four cylinder is rated at 22 mpg city, 33 mpg highway, 26 mpg combined. (You can get slightly more horsepower, but not better fuel economy by using premium fuel.) However, the new 185 horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine from Honda is rated higher at 27 mpg city, 36 highway and 30 combined – the best ever for an Accord in the EPA midsize class and significantly higher than the Blue Oval entry.
The question becomes which powertrains shoppers will actually consider and compare. The 278 horsepower V6 Accord is rated at 21 mpg city/34 highway/25 combined, and arguably the 1 mpg difference here is so close to the 2-liter four-cylinder Fusion that the fuel economy point becomes moot. Moreover, AutoInformed test drives show that the Accord does not need the V6 engine that right now 20% of Honda buyers opt for. Caveat: remember these are EPA ratings – your mileage can and very likely will vary based on driving style, traffic and climate.
Ford also offers a less expensive no-turbocharged 175 horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder that is rated at 22 mpg city, 34 highway, 26 combined – only a hair better than the Accord 2-liter – and likely the choice of two-thirds of Fusion buyers. There is also an expensive 173 horsepower 1.6-liter “EcoBoost” turbocharged engine at Ford rated at 23 mpg city/36 highway/28 combined, which isn’t as good as the Honda four-cylinder and not on paper worth the walk up the price ladder. However, I have not driven it to experience how it performs and feels on the streets. The average in the midsize class, by the way, is 28 mpg combined, according to the EPA.
Nissan is also making fuel efficiency claims for its just revised Altima sedan with a 182 horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a new “Xtronic” continuously variable transmission. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certified the 2013 model year Nissan with ratings of 27 mpg city, 38 highway and 31 combined – better than the equivalent Ford Fusion at 22 city, 33 highway, 26 combined. Therefore, Nissan, too, now has an advertising claim for the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in the U.S., and it is already heavily promoting fuel economy
There remains the best-selling Camry to look at closely – as virtually all family car shoppers do. The Camry 178 horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder was certified in 2012 at 25 mpg city, 35 highway and 28 combined, better than the Fusion 2.5-liter at 22/ 33/ 26 and also better than the Ford 2-liter turbocharged engine at 22/33/26. This Camry four-cylinder is also as good as the expensive Ford 1.6-liter that Ford is heavily promoting in press releases. Hyundai Sonata for 2013 remains rated at 24 mpg, city, 35 highway, 28 combined for its 198 horsepower four-cylinder gasoline engine.
As you can see, many brands now have a claim of some sort to use in fuel economy marketing, which likely means all of them will advertise fuel efficiency. Potentially this makes the issue so confusing that it might no longer be effective for promoting and selling cars. Buyers will assume that fuel economy is a given in the entire class of vehicles and forgo the very real nuances. (A similar situation has occurred in the marketing of auto safety during the past decade, with it increasingly difficult for companies to draw a competitive advantage in the continually improving field of what is now demonstrably the safest fleet of new vehicles ever sold in the U.S.)
Finally, in a fickle car buyer’s mind, other factors than fuel economy often prevail. Here, final transaction pricing, lease terms, quality, projected resale value, warranty, how the car actually feels when driven, perceived reputation, previous experience with a brand and the dealer can – and likely will – continue to strongly influence buying decisions.
See also:
- First Drive: Honda’s 2013 Accord – a Comeback Car?
- EPA Catches Hyundai and Kia in Mileage Rating Fraud
- First Look 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid Sedan
- Ford Fusion Hybrid Sedan Said to Top EPA Fuel Economy Ratings
- Honda Hybrid Sales Top 1 Million. 3 Million More to Catch Toyota
- Toyota Increases Fuel Economy and Equipment While Cutting Prices on 2012 Camry – a Gambit to Reestablish Leadership
- Driving the Hyundai Sonata
