Sayonara 2015 Mazda5, you will be missed

Mazda is retiring the last remaining minivan in the US market.

After ten good years in the U.S. market, Mazda is retiring the last of the true minivans, the Mazda5. Unlike the Sienna and Odyssey maxivans we see towering above us in traffic daily, the Mazda5 was actually “mini” in its proportions, yet could seat 6. Sometimes called a sport wagon, other times a minivan or family hauler, the Mazda5 was loved by those that drove or owned one.

Mazda didn’t issue any sort of eulogy for the Mazda5. Its demise was tucked away in between the updates to the 2016 models in a general press release. Mazda simply wrote, “There are no plans at this time to bring a replacement Mazda5 to the U.S. market beyond the 2015 model year.”

Our own Aaron Turpen at Torque News has owned a Mazda5 for many years. We asked him to give us his thoughts and he offered “We've loved our 5. It's exactly the right size, didn't cost a home mortgage to buy, and is great on fuel economy. “ Years ago this author was a salesperson travelling the U.S. and renting a car a week. The Mazda5 became one of my favorites. The first generation had rear seats that faced side to side, so one could sit and work back there in a sort of portable work-space. Compared to the compact domestic cars at the time, the Mazda5 was superior in almost every way, but particularly in front seat comfort.

Despite year-to-date sales double that of the MX-5 Miata, the Mazda5 is being retired mostly due to lack of sales and our cultural migration away from things with sliding rear doors. Moms and dads want to look cool now when hauling kids to Target and the Mazda5, though not a bad looking vehicle, isn’t nearly as good-looking as a Mazda CX-5 or the new CX-3.