The 2015 Mazda MX-5 will roll out at under $40,000 with a brand new look when it hits Australian shores next year.
Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders confirmed this week that a new entry model variant featuring a lower engine output, manual transmission and manual fabric roof will be available at more affordable price point.
“There’s a whole range of variants we can put in there that can certainly drag (the price) down,” Benders said of the highly-anticipated fourth generation release. “There are ways of packaging it with powertrains and what have you.”
The current Mazda sport model goes for an Australian price of $47,280, a significant increase from previous generation MX-5s sold in the past at as low $30,000.
The MX-5 product won’t enable Mazda to come anywhere near the Toyota 86’s price tag of $29,990, but Benders admits reducing the starting point will attract new segment into the Australian sports car market.
“I guess if 86 taught us anything, it’s that if you take the price down far enough you can attract some new, younger people into the sports car segment again. That’s one lesson I guess we can learn,” he said
The new model will also feature a completely revamped look.
Benders says next year’s Mazda MX-5 “will look nothing like” the current model and will draw on a more “evolved version” of the brand’s Kodo design language, seen on models ranging from the Mazda 2 to the CX-5.
The MX-5 will be unveiled on September 4.
Photo: Rene Johnston/Getty Images
