Mazda begins building 2016 MX-5 Miatas for US market

Today Mazda started to build the first 2016 MX-5 Miatas for the North American market. Here’s when they should arrive near you.

If you look at the photo at the top of the story, you will notice two things. First, the Miata has the steering wheel on the correct side for the North American market. Second, the Asian worker inside has his head cocked to the side as if there is not enough headroom for him to fit. Good news bad news as the saying goes. Look closely, and you may also be seeing a CX-3 in the background. It is hard to tell.

New 2016 Miata US Timeline
Assuming that this Miata is prepped and packaged along with a few hundred other Miatas and put on a ship from Hiroshima to New Jersey or California soon, we could see Miatas at dealerships in August. Our earlier prediction was that the first few Miatas would arrive in the US in August with dealer inventory being in shape for shoppers by October. It is still too early to tell, and Mazda has not given us an exact date yet, saying only that the first Miata’s will arrive “late summer” in the US market. Those are likely to be the Launch Edition cars customers have placed on order.

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Changes
The 2016 MX-5 Miata is all new for this year. Mazda’s outgoing 2015 models are selling out, and the new cars will likely not overlap the old on dealer lots. Although the new 2016 model is slightly lighter by about 150 pounds, its engine is also less powerful than the outgoing model.