The Mazda Miata Is Dying, And It's Our Responsibility To Save It

October 1 marked the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2024, which means it’s time for quarterly sales reports. And if you’re a Mazda fan, I’ve got great news! With total of 313,452 vehicles sold through the end of September, Mazda’s year-over-year sales are up about 15 percent. What can I say? People just like the CX-50 and CX-90. There is bad news, though. MX-5 Miata sales are down, and they’re down bad. If things don’t turn around soon, we may be looking at the beginning of the end for the humble Miata.

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Through September of this year, Mazda sold 5,780 Miatas, which isn’t terrible as far as two-door convertible sales go these days. The problem is that in the same amount of time last year, Mazda sold 7,569 Miatas. If Ford F-Series sales dropped by only a couple of thousand year-over-year, that wouldn’t be much of a reason to panic, but for the Miata, that represents a drop of 23.6 percent, which is Not Good.

Things get even worse when you look at the sales breakdown of the retractable hardtop versus the soft top. Sales of the Miata RF are only down 13.5 percent, while traditional Miata sales are down 32.6 percent year-over-year. I know the ND is getting old, interest rates are high and not many people have money for a second or third car these days, but it’s still perfect and absolutely worth saving. If people continue to refuse to buy new Miatas, though, it could easily end up on the chopping block, especially as automakers around the world scramble to develop new electric vehicles and platforms.

Unfortunately for us, the solution here isn’t an easy one. We’re going to have to buy more Miatas, and it doesn’t count if they’re used. We’re going to have to buy brand-new Miatas, and sadly, you probably aren’t getting out the door for less than $30,000. That’s a lot of money to spend on anything, especially a car, and for the majority of Americans, it’s probably impossible.

I mean, I make ever so slightly more than the median salary in the U.S., and the only way I could cover the payment on a new Miata every month would be to basically cut everything else out of my life that wasn’t absolutely essential. It would be a miserable existence, but I think I might even end up a dollar or two left over ever month if I play my cards right.

If you can afford a new Miata, though, and you don’t already own one, what are you going to do about this? Are you really going to stand by and let the Miata die knowing you could have done more to save it? When Anubis weighs your heart, do you really want the extra weight of the Miata’s death to be the reason Ammit devours your soul? No, you do not. Having your soul devoured sounds awful and the opposite of the kind of fun you’d have if you just bought a new Miata.