From what I could tell, the Venza failed in the U.S. for three main reasons. First, the Subaru Outback is so entrenched in that specific vehicle-niche (raised-suspension, sedan-based wagons with AWD) that almost nothing else can truly compete with it. The Honda Crosstour, Audi All-Road, Volvo XC70, Ford Freestyle, all tried.....and all of them are either dropped or slow-selling. Second, Toyota's Highlander itself took a big chunk of Venza sales. Third, the Venza made the mistake of sticking 19-20" wheels and low-profile tires on all of the U.S.-market production......buyers of this type of vehicle don't want a sports-sedan with a stiff ride.

Buick, for 2018, is going to try and penetrate this market with the Regal Tour-X Wagon (though, even wth AWD, it doesn't sit quite as high as the Outback). We'll see how the Tour-X sells.

 

I think a big part of Mazda's problem is marketing and perception.

Subaru managed to completely turn themselves around with their "Love" campaign, all while offering a lineup IMO ugly, slow cars with questionable long term durability.

 

I don't see any room for another Mazda SUV. The gap between the CX-5 and 9 is not that much for families. And if they do indeed bring this to market here, it will totally kill 9 sales. And that thing barely sells as it is. Add another, close vehicle to it and you are pretty much prepping the grave site. But even if that did happen, they could probably sell and make more money off of the slightly smaller new model than the current 9.

 

So you are saying that "zoom zoom" and "poor man's BMW" don't work? It seems to work for the crowd that populates Car Chat.

 

I wouldn't say "turn around." I know a lot of people who don't care for the "Love" campaign. It's corny, fake, and soft. Hearing people sing off-key in real life is an embarrassment and hardship to hear. Why would people want to be forced to hear that in their own homes?

 

That's just one commercial. The rest of the commercials, I think, are fantastic, especially the dog commercials, as well as the safety ads. With that, though, I am not a Subaru fan.

 

Mazda CX-8 is 6 inches shorter and loses 2.5 inches on each side for width. It retains almost all of the height and usable cubic footage inside compared to the CX-9. If you have a slow selling SUV, bringing a smaller city friendly version of it may help.

 

The "Zoom-Zoom" campaign was ridiculous.....IMO, almost comical. "Poor Man's BMW" is a much more accurate description of the actual American-market Mazda vehicles. Back when I got my first new Mazda, in the spring of 1984, they had a 'Kansai Engineering" phrase, which was a Japanese term that was supposed to be descriptive of the emotions associated with a vehicle not only of high quality, but also designed for a tactile-driver feel and secure cornering. All I could say was that there was a fair amount of truth in it...the steering, even in the small GLC sedan I owned, even lacked power assist (just a straight rack), so you felt everything the front wheels were doing, to a tee.

 

Agreed. I've never bought a vehicle in my life based on ads (especially TV ads)....probably never will. Even after I got my first Mazda (which I mentioned just above)....I didn't find out about the "Kansai" theme until after I had bought it.

 

The general public doesn't give a damn about handling dynamics. Even BMW has softened their cars and made the steering more vauge.

Maybe don't pin Subaru's success this decade squarely on the "Love" campaign, cause I hate it too. But they found a niche among the granola eating hippy dippy crowd who want something they can drive through a blizzard or down a gravel fire service road in the woods but don't want some huge hulking SUV because of the bad for the environment stigma. I'm just saying Subaru marketing has been great at growing their brand, and IMO they haven't used their WRC racing heritage to move cars. Granted there is a niche they've exploited with hot WRX models, but that person is not the same customer who buys an Outback wagon or base model Impreza.

 

........+1