Danger of building compliance EVs in 2022: Mazda sells single digits of MX-30 in July

Mazda has reported its sale numbers for July, which exhibit an overall decline compared to a year ago. What’s even worse, Mazda sold less MX-30 EVs than the number of seats some people have at their dinner tables. As a compliance EV with dozens upon dozens of better options available, the MX-30 is becoming a prime example of how negligible compliance EVs are in the growing market.

The Mazda MX-30 has only been gracing the Earth with its EV compliant presence for about a year, but has done a pretty great job of leaving the world untouched in its wake.

When it was officially launched in the US last August, we were excited to see yet another flagship EV from a predominantly ICE automaker, but the excitement quickly wore off. Perhaps a presage of sales trends to follow.

We had a chance to test drive the beastliness of the MX-30’s 0-60 mph in nine seconds on the wings of a 35.5 kWh battery pack that delivers an adorable 100 miles of range. It didn’t take long – those specs are completely adequate on paper as a compliance EV in the US, but its MSRP around $33,500 felt a little pricey for what you were getting.

As a result, Mazda soon followed up to drive home an additional argument to lure customers – the MX-30 isn’t bad for drivers who also have a combustion vehicle for longer trips. The strategy was successful in isolating and deterring EV enthusiasts looking for the most “range for their change,” and combustion vehicle owners with range anxiety considering a switch.

The result has been declining sales numbers from Mazda, especially the MX-30. Here’s the latest.

Mazda only sells eight MX-30 EVs in July

You read that right – eight. These abysmal numbers were a merely a nightmarish chapter in a larger story being told by Mazda Motor Company in its recent July sales report for the US.

Overall, Mazda sold 23,393 vehicles in July 2022, a decrease of 28.5% compared to last year. YTD sales were 166,195 total vehicles, equivalent to a decrease of 25.1% compared to this same point last year.

While Mazda sales are trending downward overall, no model in its range pulled less weight than the MX-30, as only eight were sold in the US last month. On the bright side, that’s a huge increase compared to July 2021 when zero were sold.

The sales table below offers evidence of the MX-30’s spiral into obscurity as a compliance EV that has been outshined and outsold by automotive competitors that decided to spend a little more time on their homework assignment.

We will see what the rest of 2022 brings in terms of MX-30 sales, but Mazda doesn’t have much basement left.

Electrek’s take

I don’t mean to necessarily come out here and dump all over Mazda, but is anyone (even Mazda) surprised by this sales outcome? We said from the get-go, $33k+ was too much money for maybe 100 miles of range and a top speed of 87 mph, even with federal tax credits.

The MX-30’s legacy might be the lesson it serves as litmus test for the EV market itself, particularly as a compliance EV. Doing the bare minimum from a performance standpoint to get a pony in the race is not even close to enough to garner customers these days.

There are way too many other options to choose from, even if you do still have to wait six months to a year to receive delivery. Eight EVs sold in 26 days might be okay for the first month of production (remember GMC only delivered one single Hummer EV last December), but I think Chevy sold well more than eight Bolts while they were still catching on fire.

You get what you pay for, and it appears the ends of the MX-30’s specs do not justify the means of its price point for over 99.99% of the US population.