Mazda CX-5 Impacted By Tire Shortage

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Mazda’s new CX-5 SUV is enjoying brisk sales in Japan, and Mazda can’t keep up with the demand. Waiting times of five months or longer were common, says The Nikkei [sub], especially for the top trim lines with fuel-saving diesel engines and leather seats. Mazda would love to deliver them a little faster – but it does not have enough tires.

Waiting times have been trimmed to three months, says the Tokyo wire, but Mazda is battling with problems procuring enough 19 inch tires. Mazda pretty much gave up on the idea and plans to offer the CX-5 with 17 inch rubber.

“New, 17-inch versions are expected to reach customers at least one month sooner,” the Nikkei says.

With 3,835 units sold In July, Mazda’s CX-5 ranked 29th on Japan’s best seller list, ten places ahead of Toyota’s hotly debated hachi-roku.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Solracer Solracer on Aug 22, 2012

    What's funny to me is how hard it's getting to get smaller tires for old cars. I have one car with 13x5" rims and you're almost limited to limited-production "classic" tires these days. Even my '90 Miata's 185/60-14 tire options are getting fewer and fewer each year. Bridgestone recently discontinued the tires I have their RE-960 AS Pole Position tires only for the 14" size, the other sizes are still available. I can easily see the day when I'll be forced to buy new wheels just to find tires that fit like some old Mustang that came with TRX wheels.

  • BrentNelson BrentNelson on Aug 24, 2012

    This really a big problem for Mazda . Mazda CX-5 is most selling car of Mazda . And most people use this car as a family car of for daily use. So Tire requirement is high always. The demand is high then also they are not producing enough tires and other accessories . It could damage company's reputation and Sell of a cars.

  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
  • Wjtinfwb I've owned multiple Mustang's, none perfect, all an absolute riot. My '85 GT with a big Holley 4 barrel and factory tube header manifolds was a screaming deal in its day and loved to rev. I replaced it with an '88 5.0 Convertible and added a Supercharger. Speed for days, handling... present. Brakes, ummm. But I couldn't kill it and it embarrassed a lot of much more expensive machinery. A '13 Boss 302 in Gotta Have It Green was a subtle as a sledgehammer, open up the exhaust cut outs and every day was Days of Thunder. I miss them all. They've gotten too expensive and too plush, I think, wish they'd go back to a LX version, ditch all the digital crap, cloth interior and just the Handling package as an add on. Keep it under 40k and give todays kids an alternative to a Civic or WRX.
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  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
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