Tariff Toll Predicted at Mazda
Reuters: Mazda forecasts nearly $1 billion profit hit from U.S. tariffs
The number quoted in the article is 145.2 billion yen, or (at the time of the article, I guess) $987.02 million, a number predicted to grow to 233.5 billion yen if the company takes no countermeasures. The article further mentions that one of the things Mazda plans to do in order to counter the expected toll is to increase production at the Alabama plant Mazda shares with Toyota, where the Mazda CX-50 is built. According to Alisa Priddle in April of this year, Mazda was cranking out 100,000 CX-50s per annum on two shifts at the Huntsville plant, with "the capacity to make 50,000 more in its share of the 300,000-unit facility".
Will this mean that American Mazda lots will stock an even higher percentage of crossovers and SUVs versus sedans and hatchbacks than they currently stock? My guess is that that will be the case. And that makes me a little sad. Not because I dislike CUVs (much) or SUVs in particular, but because it's all getting a bit bland. I don't want to see a time when Mazda in the U.S. means nothing but utility vehicles, with nary a Mazda3 or Miata in sight.
(My fellow American Mazda fan, tell me you don't get a bit excited when you see a Mazda2 or Mazda6 rolling these American streets!)
Linda and I bought our 2025 Japan-built Mazda3 in late July, and I'm glad we pulled that financial trigger when we did. She'd driven a 2001 Mazda Tribute since buying it new in April of that year. We are getting older. It was time to add a few modern safety features (like the 3's backup cam and blind spot warnings) to our driving routine, get a car with better safety ratings, and switch to something without a rollover warning on the sun visor.
It was time for our retirement car.
And it's crossed my mind that 2025 may be the last year of new Mazda3s in the United States.
But while I was busy worrying about Mazda, I read to the bottom of the the article linked up top. Here's a quote:
Mazda has forecast a full-year operating profit of ¥50 billion for the year ending March 2026, down sharply from the previous financial year.
My first reaction was to shrug. That's the company's predicted profit? And I'm worried about them?
Buy yeah. I am. As someone who likes Mazdas and as spouse to someone who loves Mazdas, I'm worried both about Mazda and about consumer choice in the United States.
