Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

  1. The Turbo w/ AWD will generate a lot of buzz especially since Mazda will offer AWD along with the turbo engine option. That's a departure from Toyota, Nissan, and KIA with their midsize sedans where AWD is offered only with the base engine/drive train. The other manufacturers' decision is apparently based on the recognition that "performance" versions of their vehicles account for so few sales and adding AWD would raise the MSRP by at least $2000 and likely not improve sales by much. Mazda, on the other hand, has to do something about the utterly dismal sales of the Mazda3 in North America. In the first half of 2020 Mazda3 sales (sedan and hatch) amounted to 16,228 vehicles. That's down an astounding 43% (!) compared to the first half of 2019. And even worse, 2019 annual sales were down 21% (50,741) compared to 2018. If Mazda manages to sell 30,000 Mazda3's in the US in 2020 (not at all certain given economic conditions) it will amount to a 53.5% drop in sales in two years! And if that weren't bad enough, the sales of Mazda's entire lineup ranges from mediocre to awful. Adding the same turbo available in the Mazda6, CX-5, and CX-9 in the Mazda3 strikes me as a desperation move to create buzz for the brand. It will probably accomplish that among internet fan boys but I seriously doubt it will do much if anything for the Mazda3 sales.
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