OK, I pose this question to you all: What went wrong with the Mazda Millenia? Why were sales so unsuccessful?

From the very beginning, Mazda handled the marketing of the Millenia poorly. Nothing was made of its development. No TV spots, not catch Zoom Zoom song (even though it is annoying as hell). I think Mazda played their cards wrong. THis car was a total contender in the market place, or at least it could have been. It was a fantastic design, great performer, eye catching. What went wrong? Do you agree or disagree?

Cheers,
leafsboy

Leafs to the Cup in 2004. No doubt about it, EH?

 

mazda was (or still is) conceived as a japanse Hyundai...therefore,
millenia being sold at its price, never a crisp condender for the
near luxury market noone bought it. a lot of people that buy
those kinds of cars buy it for the image. its a nice car but not a
car that can really pull someone's attention.

if someone asks, 'what do your drive?' most people that buy
that kind of car want to say ' i drive a lexus' or 'acura' or 'bmw' or 'benz' or 'lincoln' 'caddy' , etc.

not a 'hyundai' or 'mazda' etc. mazda are and still is a
in expensive car.

 

FWIW, I've driven a Millenia and I disagree that it was a "fantastic design and great performer." Granted, this is all personal opinion, but the car really wasn't very technically advanced (the S's engine was innovative but you needed an engineering degree to understand why), it wasn't particularly good looking, it didn't handle as well as a BMW yet didn't have the silky ride quality of a Lexus, and it didn't ooze classiness and quality like a Mercedes-Benz. When I've driven some of the other vehicles I've mentioned, I've stepped out of them thinking, "D_mn, that's a great car." The Millenia did NOT give me this feeling.

I also agree with Kenchan that Mazda DOES have an image problem that doesn't bode well for its ability to sell a premium car. There's a reason why Lexus and Cadillac exist and they don't try to sell $45,000 Toyotas or Chevrolets.

 

one word: ADVERTISING

mazda didn't ad the car on TV or anything so no one knew about it

 

Why was it a failure?? Because, like the Mazda 929, it was a turd design !! I cringe everytime I see one of those 2 cars coming into the shop for repairs. Junk plastic interior panels that fall apart, and can you believe this, the water pump impeller is FREAKIN PLASTIC!!!
Work on one and you'll see why they failed.

 

I disagree that it was a poor design. My Dad has a 99 S model, and it's been the most reliable car he's ever owned. I personally think it's beautiful, too.

I do however agree that the problem has to do with advertising and image. As most people here probably know the Millenia was supposed to be the first product of thier luxury division, Amati. When that fell through, they just shoved it into the Mazda lineup. Like someone mentioned, nobody wants to spend as much as 32 grand on a Mazda.

 

Huh? What's a Millennia?

 

I like Millenias.
Mazda designed the Millenia as the first of Mazda's new luxury line of cars. Amati was to be to Mazda, what Lexus and Acura are to Toyota and Honda. Unfortunately for Mazda, their timing couldn't have been worse. Right as they introduced the $30,000 dollar Millenia, the Japanese Yen took a dive, and America fell in love with SUVs. So they scrapped the Amati name, and introduced the Millenia as a Mazda, even though it would be competing directly with Mazda's other flagship sedan, the 929. Bad move.

The coolest thing about the Millenia was the Miller Cycle Engine!
From AutomoBear.com:
"The Miller-cycle engine is named after American engineer Ralph H. Miller, who first developed the concept of compressing intake charge and altering valve timing to achieve higher output from less displacement - thus reducing fuel consumption by up to 15%. To this technology, Mazda added a Lyshholm compressor (i.e: supercharger) to force larger amounts of air into the cylinders."

My buddy's dad had a Millenia S and it was a fun car to drive.

 

A millenia is nothing more than a Mazda6. Compare the two, they look almost identical. The 626 was not overtaken by the 6, the millenia was. I think the millenia looked pretty good too, the newer models.

 

My mom is buying a new 2002 Millenia S today for a nice price. I really like the way the car looks, especially the taillights.

 

It is too bad that Mazda stopped making them. I did like them, especially the latest model sold in North America, but I guess poor advertising would be the answer to why. Mazda just announced that it is totally leaving the luxury market. Also, I think Millenia was doomed by its Miller Cycle engine. Mazda had problems developing the engine and trying to sell the technology to the customer, so I do not blame them for stop making this car.

 

i think mazda was really lousy with its advertising. when i was looking for a car in 2000 there was no commercials on tv for the protege and the brochure for the protege was really crappy. it had no good pictures of the car. it was a shame....

 

Yeah, but I challenge you to explain the the Miller cycle to the average new car buyer. When you start talking about why it's good to have a lower expansion ratio than compression ratio, even the brains of many diehard car enthusiasts start to overheat. Second, it's pretty obvious that the main benefit of the Miller cycle- improved fuel economy- is not high on the priority list of American luxury car buyers. A couple of other prominent technological attempts to improve the fuel economy of luxury cars- BMW's Eta engine and Mercedes turbodiesel engines- have been pulled from the American market because the buyers just don't care.

 

We have a 2002 Millenia and I think I agree with some of you folks and disagree with others. I absolutely agree that the biggest thing was advertsing. But in reality that was a Mazda problem across the board before they really kicked up with Zoom-Zoom. I mean who remembers a 626 ad, ever???

I really like our car a lot but I think a couple of things about it. It was a good design fr 1995 (is that when they were introduced??) But it was never really updated. I think appearance wise it was competitive with Lexus and acura of that time period. It's a nice looking car, but now I think it looks dated.

Second thing is it's really pretty slow. My wife doesn't mind, but I do. even in comparison to my P5 it feels slow. I don't know what actual 0-60 times ae versus P5 but it feels worse.

On the plus side, I strongly disagree wiht the folks who say the interior isn't nice. I dunno about earlier models but the 2002 is at least as nice and I believe nicer than the interior in the '99 Volvo S70 GLT. Only thing I miss is a drivers seat with memory.

And finally the car is like the ultimate highway cruiser IMHO. Several weeks ago I drove it back and forth to Dallas on consecutive days. In the car for over 600 miles and really enjoyed it. Smoother than any car I can ever remember driving.

Sorry this got long but I like the Millenia too and am sorry to see them discontinued. Lathough BECAUSE it was discontinued we got an absolutely GREAT price on a very nice car.

 

Typos suck....damn I need a spell checker! sorry!