Moronic Mazda Mumblings

Recently overheard; "Mazda is one of the smallest car companies right now." Is it? Is it really? Let's take a look at facts instead of random statements; so far for 2015 it's #18 out of 36 major nameplates in the US. That's not the smallest by any measure. Guess who is #17? Yep, Volks"We're going to be the biggest car company in the world!"wagen. No, we're not adding up total car sales and getting the VW gross. We're just talking the size of the nameplates based on sales. So there you have it.

But we didn't see this one coming; Jeep is #6. With the new Fiat-based mini-SUV on the sales floor, what other product do they have that bring folks into the sales floor and out the door clutching keys? The answer is less than plus-sized SUVs, which is the current fashion trend. Lucky Jeep (Fiat). And we mean that with all due respect; you got lucky Jeep, nothing more and nothing less. It's not because your products are all that great.

The plucky but faltering Mitsubishi continues to cling to our shores at #26, mainly due to the right-sized but underdeveloped Lancer-based Outlander Sport.

The bottom six spots are not surprisingly occupied by the following (in order); MINI, Fiat, Maserati, Jaguar, Smart, Bentley and Alfa Romeo (44 cars sold so far in 2015?!?). Suddenly, Sergio Marchionne's desire to merge with another giant makes perfect, desperate sense.

Back to the original comment about Mazda; we kept mum and kept on truckin'. That's how we roll.