As Mazda’s first fully electric vehicle, the MX-30 is the complete opposite of a hit in North America. The company’s US division has in fact decided to axis the model after just two years.
Sure, the MX-30 looks sharp, offers fun handling and boasts a cheap price, but it was undoubtedly doomed from the start with the shortest range (161 km) of any EV on the market, multiple issues with space and access, as well as sluggish acceleration resulting from a modest 143 horsepower.
South of the border, it also didn’t help that the MX-30 was exclusively sold in California, where a mere 181 units found a home in 2021, 324 in 2022 and 66 during the first half of 2023.
Proportionally speaking, the MX-30 has enjoyed more success in Canada with 148, 812 and 314 units sold, respectively—first in Quebec and BC only, then across the country for 2023.
Photo: Mazda
Weak demand for the MX-30 means customers don’t have to wait many months, sometimes years, to take delivery of their vehicle. At some Mazda dealers, units are available right away.
The MX-30 is expected to remain part of the Canadian lineup for 2024. Details will be provided next winter, Mazda told us. In all likelihood, the new MX-30 R-EV, a range-extending plug-in hybrid, will not come to Canada, similar to the automaker’s highly efficient Skyactiv-X engine. Both are currently sold in Japan and Europe only.
Looking at the Big Picture
In its electrification plan announced last November, Mazda focused on plug-in hybrid variants of the all-new CX-90 and upcoming CX-70, as well as the Mazda CX-50 Hybrid that’s slated to launch next year.
In 2025, a new battery-electric SUV along with four new hybrids will be released. Alas, their identity remains a mystery for now. If you do the math, that makes it nine electrified Mazda models in Canada by 2025.
Photo: Mazda
In the second half of the decade, Mazda will introduce a dedicated new platform for electric vehicles, called SKYACTIV EV Scalable Architecture. This highly flexible platform will underpin EV models of various sizes and body types.
In the longer term, the plan is to electrify the entire Mazda lineup by 2030.
