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Mazda CEO predicts record US sales in next 2 years

The recently appointed CEO of Mazda is apparently quite the optimist, claiming that the Japanese brand, renowned for its Zoom-Zoom driving character (and more recently its sleek, refined designs and Skyactiv efficiency), is claiming the company will record its best-ever US sales within the next two years. According to a report from Automotive News, Masamichi Kogai expects Mazda to move 400,000 of its Kodo-styled vehicles in the increasingly competitive US market by March 2016, with the recently launched Mazda3 leading the charge. "It will impacted considerably by the trend of the U.S. industry. But... it's my hope we achieve the record by that time," Kogai tells AN.
The brand is currently targeting 300,000 units by the end of this fiscal year in March 2014. Given that production and sales of the Mazda3 (and consumer awareness of the 2014 Mazda6) is still picking up steam, it isn't a stretch to imagine Mazda, which sold 240,000 vehicles from January to October of 2013, hitting its target.
Along with the overall increase in sales numbers, Kogai is expecting the independent brand to take an even larger slice of the US sales pie, claiming 2.5 percent US market share, improving from its current 1.9-percent foothold so far in 2013. "I think the upper limit may be 2.5 percent for the time being," Kogai told AN, before pointing out, "We don't want to use a lot of incentives. That is not the sales approach we aspire toward."

Mazdaspeed3 concept tipped for Frankfurt debut

The last quarter of 2015 could be a big one for Mazda as a report has emerged from Australia claiming that the company will come to the Frankfurt Motor Show in September with a near-production concept of the third-generation Mazdaspeed3, while a second-generation CX-9 will be shown a few months later in Los Angeles. Motoring.com.au ran the initial report, and although the news seems plausible, the outlet doesn't provide sources for either piece of news. Likewise, our friends at Mazda USA refused to comment on "speculation." Speculation it may be, but it's surely tantalizing considering the recent popularity of both the hot hatch and three-row crossover segments. According to the Aussies, the concept Speed3 will quickly evolve into a production model, which will launch alongside a mid-cycle refresh for the current 3. A turbocharged 2.5-liter will spit out 295 horsepower, and could have all-wheel drive. Even if only the front axle is doing the work, the MS3 will easily be able to stand toe-to-toe with hotter half of the segment based on output alone. As for the more mundane offerings, Motoring reports the long-in-the-tooth CX-9 will get a replacement in LA, although it doesn't offer much in the way of details beyond that. It should be interesting to see how the company's Skyactiv philosophy will be implemented on such a large vehicle. Perhaps the biggest surprise from the Australian report, though, are the outlet's reports on the CX-7, which will return sporting a third row of seats after its larger sibling debuts. That'd give Mazda a versatile lineup of four crossovers, with the sub-compact CX-3, the compact CX-5, the midsize, seven-passenger CX-7 and the fullsize CX-9. As we weren't able to confirm any of this with Mazda, we'd still warn that this news should be ingested with grains of salt. Still, it looks like the company could be set to make some waves in the first two shows of the upcoming auto show season.

10 automakers shack up in Detroit hotel to talk Takata airbags

Since Takata has decided not to take the lead concerning potential issues with its airbag inflators, the automakers have. Perhaps that's unsurprising, since it's the automakers, not Takata, that will take a beating on the dealership floor if consumers decide its models are a health hazards. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru met in a hotel conference room near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last week to sort out a way to understand the technical issues involved. So far, faulty airbag inflators have been ruled the cause of five deaths and 50 injuries around the world, but neither Takata nor investigators understands exactly why the inflators are malfunctioning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently asked Takata to issue a national recall, Takata declined, citing a minuscule failure rate and the fact that it's still investigating the issue. Toyota and Honda then made an industry-wide appeal for "a coordinated, comprehensive testing program" that would pinpoint the problem inflators and get them replaced, and that's what the Detroit meeting was about. Numerous issues, however, will make this a long row to hoe: simply getting the parts to replace the nearly 20 million inflators in cars recalled around the world so far - even working with other suppliers - will take a years, but more importantly, no one knows if the replacement inflators currently being installed will suffer the same issue. Answers will hopefully come quickly with Takata, the ten automakers and NHTSA all independently investigating the problem.