BMike

Its a bitch to find worldwide sales, but on average half the NSXs went to the US, by the mid nineties honda was selling less than 400 a year here. The last two years of RX7 production that are listed on Mazdas site domestic sales <ie japan only> were about 2600 a year. Ie about 5x as many rx7s rolled off the line every year as NSXs. For a speciality all out sports car, the rx7 was a very brisk seller mostly due to its excellent value and of course, as well all know, the fact that its the best japanesse production sports car ever made

JConn2299

Not true. Sales had slowed considerably in '94. When I went to buy my FD in the summer of 1995 dealers still had a large number of unsold '94's on their lots. This is half way through 95 and they hadn't yet moved all the 94 models. Sales were very slow. Then they sold the few....and in auto production terms, 500 is a very small number.....they sold those '95's well into 1996. I've even heard stories of untitled '95's being sold in 1997. Gentleman, that's a slow selling car.

As to Mazda discontinuing RX-7 sales in the U.S. let me go retrieve an Autoweek article that may shed some light on the subject. I'll post later.

lilroach

is it the last three of the vin# if so mine is 524

JConn2299

Here's the math on the discontinuation of the RX-7 in the U.S:

According to Autoweek magazine it would have cost Mazda $5 million to bring the RX-7 into compliance with the OBD II standards that went into effect for 1996 cars. Mazda only produced 500 U.S. RX-7's in 1995, and it had trouble selling those.

My '95 car with the options listed for over $40k. I was able to buy it at a $5,000 discount because they weren't selling. If they had produced 500 '96 models and added in the cost of OBD II compliance, it would have added $10,000 to the cost of each RX-7.

Part of the problem was an unfavorable currency exchange rate. WIthout adding any new features to it, a car which started selling in the low 30 range in '92 and '92, had risen to a base price of $37,500 in '95. Add another $10,000 to an already slow seller and what do you think would happen?

So, was it slow sales or OBD II which killed the RX-7 in the U.S.? Well, the only thing I would add is that Porsche and Corvette were able to comply with OBD II and continue selling cars. The consensus opinion seems to be that the mid-range Japanese sportscars, the RX-7, the 300Z, the Supra, and the MR2 had priced themselves out of the market due to unfavorable exchange rates, and to some extent, changing public tastes.

BMike

RX7 sales suffered in large part due to the early problems and the lack of pushing the car when Mazda decided to pull out on the OBD2 effort and just discontinue selling in the states. I'm sure the faltering fortunes of the company as a whole in that era and pressure from papa Ford didn't help things any. Also emissions compliance in general for a rotary is much larger of a challenge than it is for piston engine cars, by nature they're not very environmentally friendly. Also even at 10k more the car was a bargain compared to many of its competitors most of which started at 60 large by then. As far as I'm concerned the fact that it was the LAST true turbo RWD Japanese sports car to bow out in its home market speaks for itself.

Oh and Lilroach, congradulations, you own the third to last US market RX7 made, the last was #526

JConn2299

That's your own, rather offbeat, opinion. Obviously the market, which is the car buying public, didn't see it that way, or else why the declining sales? A bargain is something people snap up, not avoid. Offer me a C6 Corvette or a new Lotus Elise for $25k and I'll be down there tonight to buy it. Remember, these are 1995 dollars we're talking about. A $47,500 base RX-7 then would have outpriced a Corvette. Corvettes were still selling in '95 and '96. RX-7's weren't.
I like FD's. I bought one. New. But I try not to wear blinders to reality.

BMike

I said why the sales declined, reliability woes of the early cars and Mazda's lack of support for the car when they decided to axe it from the lineup. Right when we lost the car was when Mazda fixed all the problems and continued to sell it to most of the rest of the world. Hell with the upgraded turbos which easily could have done 300 crank in our not gentlemens agreement limited market it would have been equal to almost anything out there until last year when the C6 corvette rolled off the line. Granted the car will always be rather esoteric but I think its failing in the US market is alot deeper than wether or not it was a good car or a good deal, I think it failed because Mazda couldn't make it succeed. My real point was that everyone makes it out to be a propped up car that was a huge loser all the way around to act as a flag bearer for the brand, I don't think Pa Ford would have stood for that even in the home market if the car didn't sell well enough to justify its existance.

JConn2299

Sorry, not it. I don't know your age. Maybe you weren't old enough to be aware at the time, but I was. All the mid-level Japanese sportscars died out around the same time and from the same thing. Rising prices and declining sales. Did the Z car and the Supra have major reliabililty woes? Certainly not at the FD's level, and yet they went on to extinction.

As I say, I like the car. I bought one when it was new and competing in the marketplace. But the market is unsentimental, unlike some owners, and its decisions are ruthless. If it was a bargain, even at $47,500 as you claim, then people would have been snapping them up like hotcakes at $37,500 to $40, 000 in 1995 dollars. As it was, it took them through 1996 to unload the small number of '95 models that had been produced.

KMAR

I believe it has something to do with the market. Mustangs, even the Camaro suffered in sales, they held on a little longer and managed to survive quite a while but, chugging along. "In September 2001, General Motors Corporation announced that 2002 will be the last model year for the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird." Found this on a website and just quoted it. I remember Ford and Chevy talking about how their sales for their muscle cars were dropping. So this leads me to say.....Freaking stupid Minivans and Sport Untilities. Holly crap, so many people wanted these things. This was a big market change. Now lets look at what is happening lately. Yep GM is screwed again. Hello 1970's fuel prices, history repeats. I mean, the North American gov't basically gave the "Big 3" their customers by putting extra taxes on Import vehicles. Then you have fleet vehicles too, all gov't vehicles are domestic, huge market that the Japanese vehicles don't have. So how does GM get so screwed like they are now. Mazda is doing good. Happened to Chrysler about 10 years ago I think. I think Mazda did the right thing. They did not hold on to something that wasn't selling but, then they didn't put all their eggs in one basket like the "Big 3" did by going to HUGE Pieces. No offense if you own one, they serve their purpose, not just the way everyone uses them. So I'm kinda leading towards market change. I was paying almost 5 bucks a gallon for 94 octane up here. now its closer to around 4.20 a gallon. We use Litres, I just converted for you guys. Anyways, thats what I've got to say.

quicksilver_rx7

I agree, but I doubt you'll see a big change over a 3-year time span. Mazda did make some minor changes to the car (softer suspension, better quality interior parts, etc...) based on public consensus. But, most major quality enhancements come with expensive R&D, which usually occurs when cars get face-lifts, which happened only once.

Joe

JConn2299

So build quality can never be improved? Assembly line practices can't be changed or modified? That's not true. Manufacturers have often gone to a lot of trouble to improve the assembly quality of existing models. You learn as you go along. Do you know that most manufacturers set up pilot assembly lines to give workers practice in building new cars? Do you think they get better as they go along? Do you think there's a learning curve involved in this?

DrewS2k

iTrader: (3)

95 silver with black switched to red interior (big mistake)

lilroach

My 95 silver has a black interior