[schulkw]

I'm in Bowling Green, Kentucky, home of the Hilltoppers and the Corvette/XLR Roadster, and we used to have a Mazda dealership, but they closed it. I'm baffled. Elizabethtown (1 hr away), Paducah (2 hrs away), and Owensboro (1 hr away), all have Mazda dealys. Owensboro is the only city bigger than us, but not by much. The only reason I can think of is that it was paired with a Toyota dealership, and god knows Toyota is about to surpass Chevy and Ford in domestic sales.

I would like to see Mazda open one of those new dealerships like the one in Utah and the one in Alabama here. I still have yet to see an RX-8 in person. :-( Bring back my Mazda dealy!!!

 

[dinu01]

I only saw one RX-8 and that was a titanium grey one that flew in the left lane and I caught it for less than 3secs.

Make mine red please

 

[mz6zoomzoom]

According to my Mazda dealer, new Mazda dealers actually aren't allowed to be anything BUT Mazda dealers, which is kind of interesting.

 

[atl]

I only saw one RX-8 and that was a titanium grey one that flew in the left lane and I caught it for less than 3secs.

Make mine red please

I had one behind me in traffic yesterday. At first I thought it was a honda S2000 but as it got closer I knew what it was.

 

[dinu01]

Here in Toromnto there are 8 dealerships within less than a 30min. drive from me. And all are Mazda only. But Mazdas are popular here. See MANY Proteges, mid 90s 626s, and 200+ MPVs.

 

[elvineet]

Hey schulkw,

I know what you mean. I used to live a half hour away from BG. I go to UK now though, and the dealership here just wants to rip people off cuz they're the only Mazda dealership here. And Tubby Smith sure doesn't need to do their cheesy commercials.

 

[raitchison]

According to my Mazda dealer, new Mazda dealers actually aren't allowed to be anything BUT Mazda dealers, which is kind of interesting.

That sounds like BS to me. Mazda is somehwat of a "niche" brand, it would be akin to selling Mercury all by itself.

FWIW, my dealer (not a "new" dealer but only been selling Mazdas a few years) sells the floowing makes.

Ford
Lincoln
Mercury
Mazda
Saturn
Mazda
Jaguar
Land Rover
Aston Martin
Saleen (yes Saleen is a make as well as a customizer)

They also sold Think's before they were cancelled.

 

[SBTanMan]

With the exception of Saturn, those are all Ford subsidiaries, so maybe that's the deal with it. My Mazda dealer is also a combination Mazda/Lincoln/Mercury dealer, and I think it makes a lot of sense. With the exception of those people who alternate between Lincoln and Mercury, there's no competition between the brands sold there, which has to be pretty good for sales. And the dealership in Thousand Oaks is a combination Mazda and Honda I believe, though I could be wrong. You have to figure those sales people are just taking customers from the Hondas, "very reliable and good gas mileage" to Mazdas, "sporty and well-designed", so they don't lose any sales, though they may not always buy what they came in for.