The Mazda2 takes its leave of the U.S. market; 2016 redesign won’t ship to dealerships

By Miles Branman May 25, 2015

If you’re in the market for a sub-compact hatchback and you live in America, you’ll have to cross the 2016 Mazda2 off your list of options.

The Japanese automaker has just revealed that the redesigned Mazda2 won’t be shipped to U.S. dealerships because the business case for selling it in the States has weakened. With gas prices dropping across the country (someone get that memo over to CA), and supplies from Mazda’s new factory in Mexico restricted, getting the 2016 model year Mazda2 to U.S. dealers is a chore not worth doing.

Mazda’s senior vice-president of U.S. operations Robert Davis noted that Mazda executives decided selling the Mazda2 in the U.S. wasn’t a priority despite the model being redesigned. “We could have had it, but we would have had a number that didn’t make much sense with 600 dealers and with the marketing it takes to launch a new car,” said Davis in an interview with Automotive News. “I wanted to allocate resources to those products that make us and our dealers considerably more profit than a Mazda2 does.”

Translation: It’s all about the Benjamins, and the Mazda2 wouldn’t make enough of them to warrant U.S. deliveries.

In truth, the Mazda2 wasn’t the automaker’s biggest segment seller in any event, with only 13,615 units sold last year. Rivals like the Ford Fiesta have outsold the Mazda2 for the past several months. In April, Mazda sold just 21 Mazda2’s thanks in part to limited supplies.

While Mazda won’t offer the 2016 Mazda2 in the U.S., the automaker has vetted the model for U.S. safety and environmental standards, so it could be sold here in the future.

If you’re desperate to drive a Mazda subcompact here in the U.S., the Scion iA, which shares its platform with the Mazda2, will be available as a 2016 model.

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