Mazda Says 2016 CX-3 Will Start Under $20,000 (Kinda)
The new mini crossover from Mazda will start at $19,960 (not including $880 destination) when it goes on sale after next month, the automaker reported Thursday.
That puts the CX-3 in leagues with the Chevrolet Trax, Nissan Juke, Honda HR-V and Jeep Renegade as sub-$20,000 crossovers in an increasingly crowded and competitive segment.
Like the rest of its competition, it’s not hard to hike the CX-3’s final price up in a hurry.
The base price gets Mazda’s 2.0-liter inline four and a 6-speed automatic transmission. Standard on all models will be a rear-view camera, 7-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth push button starter and power windows and doors. All-wheel drive can be added for $1,250.
The middle-of-the-range CX-3 Touring (with heated seats, leather wrapped wheel, blind-spot monitoring, et al.) runs $22,840. The top-of-the-line CX-3 Grand Touring (navigation, moon roof, leather, Bose sound, etc.) comes in at $25,870. And presumably, the most you could pay for a CX-3 coming from the factory would be a Grand Touring CX-3 with all-wheel drive and Mazda’s optional safety package would be $29,040.
If you need any further proof the segment is ultra competitive and willing to cut to the very bone for the best price on a headline, consider that you can still buy a Jeep Renegade without air conditioning and 16-inch steel wheels for $18,880.
More by Aaron Cole
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No manual ... no deal!
Why are these referred to as Japanese CUV? They're Mexican. I haven't seen enough evidence that Mexican vehicles are of an acceptable build quality to even begin to consider one.
And Mazda continues the practice of making cars who's looks write checks its motors can't cash. The jury's out, but I suspect the equivalently priced Juke will walk away from this all day.
This, I think, is a nice looking vehicle. I recently purchased a new Mazda (my second Mazda, the first of which, an MX-5, I bought in 2009). I am definitely a fan, in general. A manual transmission, in a compact SUV such as this would be nice. A manual transmission in the upper trim levels of the CX-5 and the GT trim of the Mazda 6 would also be nice. However, the 6 speed automatic, with the so-called "kickdown" or "power boost", or whatever, seems to work well. But, I agree with others, here, that Mazda should make the manual transmission more readily available in this CX-3 and in higher trims of other models.