New cars continue to get more expensive. As material costs have gone up, combined with inflation, automakers are doing what they can to stay profitable. The latest automaker to grapple with this is Mazda, as Automotive News reports the Japanese brand is considering some small price hikes.
Mazda’s head of global sales Yasuhiro Aoyama broached the topic of a possible price hike as he announced the company’s recent financial results. Aoyama said sales in the U.S. have been good enough that he thinks a small price increase, around $350 per vehicle, should do the job.
But further price increases will likely follow. “To offset higher raw material and logistic costs, we have raised prices in markets where we can do so, including the U.S.,” Aoyama said in the earnings presentation. “We will fetch higher prices as we continue to monitor market competition and reassess the competitiveness of our products.”
The brand is also spending less on buyer incentives, a habit automakers try to avoid when they can. With demand for new vehicles so high they’re pretty much selling themselves, Mazda spent just $650 per vehicle on incentives in July 2022, the company said.
Aside from the increased costs associated with production, the price increases make sense for Mazda. The brand is currently trying to position itself as more premium and upmarket. Automotive News says the CX-50, which recently debuted, has been fetching higher transaction prices at dealers. I think that’s more to do with the fact that Mazda shipped more high-trim CX-50s to dealers to cash in on the strong market. But anyway, the brand is planning an onslaught of premium crossovers that will see a CX-70 and CX-90 for the U.S. next year.