The future of the MX-5 Miata, is there another 20 years left?

[Jeremiah]

http://doubleclutch.blob.core.windows.net/doubleclutch/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MK35405.jpg

So were currently on the 3rd generation MX-5 Miata with the new ND on the horizon. A 4th generation is imminent no doubt.
Now, what I am thinking about is how long will Mazda keep producing the Miata, its a hot seller for sure considering all the positives and price point.
But how much longer? The S2000 was short lived but I think thats due in part to the price point, whereas the Miata satisfied everyone young and old because they are affordable. The MR2 Spyder had promise but it just wasn't loved enough.

How much longer do you think the Miata will be around? Will we see an NE, NF, etc.?

[Sean5294]

It should be a while as long as they build what people want. I have only had mine for a week or so an it is by for the funnest car I have driven.

[Phatmiata]

Currently the biggest competitor for the Miata is from the USED Miata car sales :teehee:

as long as the keep the price affordable I can see the Miata being around for a long time

[horribleR]

I think they would benefit from a lower starting price point. as it stands it's fairly high even for a "base model".

[Pfunk]

Currently the biggest competitor for the Miata is from the USED Miata car sales

Truth! That and those of us who pour money into our current cars rather than getting new ones.

[pnoy1duh]

There's nothing else that fills the niche the Miata fits in. Part of the Miata's success is it's generally non aggressive design, "fun" brand cache, reliability, and cult like following. Other automotive companies have tried, but can't match the relatively low cost of entry and the Miata's pedigree. The only things that could unseat the Miata is price creep, Mazda's modest advertising budget, and keeping the Miata fresh.

[riefdaddy]

Luckily, there are those who always want the latest and greatest. As long as Mazda doesn't mess with the formula, I don't see the Miata going away anytime soon. It is an iconic car at this point. It has been around for so long that kids who are now in their 20's don't know of a time that there weren't Miatas.

Will it last forever, no. Sadly, with automated cars on the horizon and the move towards "safer" cars, in time fun cars will go away. At that point I will be living the Rush song, "Red Barchetta".

[Pfunk]

I will be living the Rush song, "Red Barchetta".

Always liked that storyline, myself!

[poo_head]

a barebones performance/tuner spec would be cool. Kind of like the spec c sti.
cloth seats, soft top, base model wheels, minimalist/no av, lsd, 6 spd, maybe ac as an option.

That's of course if they want this demogrpahic to continue buy it.
My observation is that the nc is kind of a midlife-crisis car. Mostly driven by old and grey types (no offense – I'd love one). By that thinking moving into s2000 territory could eventually happen.
I think the current NC strikes a happy medium between those two ends of the spectrum.

Too bad the nc3 isn't offered with a soft top option in Canada...

[Unk577]

Currently the biggest competitor for the Miata is from the USED Miata car sales :teehee:

as long as the keep the price affordable I can see the Miata being around for a long time

I'm doing everything I can to deplete the used miata market. Now if I could just get hold of a low mileage LE to cut up...

[The Driver]

Currently the biggest competitor for the Miata is from the USED Miata car sales

as long as the keep the price affordable I can see the Miata being around for a long time

Porsche has since the late 70's considered their used cars as their "entry level" models.

Sadly, I disagree with your assesment. Sales have been dropping since 2007, at an accelerated pace, while the cars have gone "upmarket" and so have their prices.

Heck, car sales in general have been dropping. The younger generations are just not buying cars with the same fervor as before. Internet, video games and I-phones is where the money is at.

I don't see the Miata surviving another 10 years, the sales are just not there. I hope I'm wrong.

[DK AFFECT]

Heck, car sales in general have been dropping. The younger generations are just not buying cars with the same fervor as before. Internet, video games and I-phones is where the money is at.

You're blaming the symptom not the problem.

[The Driver]

You're blaming the symptom not the problem.

I'm not blaming anything, just stating the facts. Most of my friends who have children of driving age, those children are at best apathetic about cars. That trend carries over, I'm not the one saying it, car companies are.


http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/17/news/economy/young-buying-cars/


http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027876/millennials-dont-care-about-owning-cars-and-car-makers-cant-figure-out-why

[riefdaddy]

Driver, I think what DK is saying is that many young people are priced out of the new car market by the purchase price, maintenance, fuel, and insurance costs. Saddled with student loans, poor employment opportunities, et al. They may want a new car, but it isn't practical or feasible. So they instead look at cheaper alternatives such as living within a city that allows them to walk and ride public transportation. I'm not making this a political post, but with all the off shoring of jobs companies are cutting their own throats by not having people who can buy their products. Henry Ford paid a high wage and said the smartest thing ever - claiming that someone had to be able to buy his product. That to me is the biggest issue with new car sales - they are too expensive (newer used cars too).

[The Driver]

Driver, I think what DK is saying is that many young people are priced out of the new car market by the purchase price, maintenance, fuel, and insurance costs. Saddled with student loans, poor employment opportunities, et al. They may want a new car, but it isn't practical or feasible. So they instead look at cheaper alternatives such as living within a city that allows them to walk and ride public transportation. I'm not making this a political post, but with all the off shoring of jobs companies are cutting their own throats by not having people who can buy their products. Henry Ford paid a high wage and said the smartest thing ever - claiming that someone had to be able to buy his product. That to me is the biggest issue with new car sales - they are too expensive (newer used cars too).

Oh don't be afraid to make it political. Here @ MR.Net, we don't shut down opinions. I was just establishing that I wasn't directly blaming anything, or anyone. DK is a big boy, he knows how to take care of himself!
And yes, I agree to too often companies end up shooting themselves in the foot, by not paying adequate wages. But that is not something that will change anytime soon, if ever.

[Phatmiata]

I will be living the Rush song, "Red Barchetta".


Always liked that storyline, myself!


For the guys that don't know.....


http://youtu.be/P9Q05UyIOX4



From Wikipedia:
The song describes a future in which many classes of vehicles have been prohibited by "the Motor Law". The narrator's uncle has kept one of these illegal vehicles (the titular red barchetta sportscar) in pristine condition for some "fifty-odd years" and keeps it hidden at his secret country home (previously a farm before the enactment of the aforementioned Motor Law). During one of his weekly drives, the narrator encounters an "alloy air car" that begins to chase him along the roads. A second such vehicle soon joins the pursuit, which continues until the narrator drives his Barchetta across a one-lane bridge that is too narrow for the air cars. The song ends with the narrator returning safely to his uncle's farm.

The song was inspired by the futuristic short story "A Nice Morning Drive", by Richard Foster and published in the November 1973 issue of Road and Track magazine. The story describes a similar future in which increasingly stringent safety regulations have forced cars to evolve into massive Modern Safety Vehicles (MSVs), capable of withstanding a 50-mile-per-hour impact without injury to the driver. Consequently, drivers of MSVs have become less safety-conscious and more aggressive, and "bouncing" (intentionally ramming) the older, smaller cars is a common sport among some.

Rush lyricist Neil Peart made several attempts to contact Foster while working on the album, but Road and Track did not have an up-to-date address, and Rush were forced to settle for a brief "Inspired by" note in the lyric sheet mentioning the story. In July 2007, Foster and Peart finally made contact with one another; Foster later posted an online account of their journey by motorcycle through the backwoods of West Virginia between stops on Rush's Snakes and Arrows tour. Neil Peart also described the Barchetta like the guitar in the song "2112"

Lyrics:
My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law.
And on Sundays I elude the Eyes,
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits.

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline.
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine.
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine
For fifty-odd years.
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream.

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car:
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better vanished time.
We fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel,
I commit my weekly crime.

Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge...

Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.

Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide.
I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.

Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside.

[Jeremiah]

Interesting story ^ Thanks for the explanation.

Eventually cars will drive themselves and we will just be along for the ride. :(

Mindless motoring.

[JamieH]

Pretty sure mindless motoring is already a bad habit of a lot of drivers currently.

[Jeremiah]

Pretty sure mindless motoring is already a bad habit of a lot of drivers currently.

Aint that the truth.

Defensive driver here at all times. I pretend I am a motorcycle rider/invisible...its done a lot for collision prevention.