Welcome to the Autoblog Miata Index — the only automotive sales metric that truly matters, at least in our own minds. In this post, we’re keeping track of how many Miatas Mazda has sold in 2024. Why? Because we like them, for starters, and we reckon quite a few of you do too. It’s about the cheapest pure driver’s car money can buy, after all. If people aren’t buying Miatas, what hope is there for its more-expensive brethren?
2024 started off slow for our favorite roadster (even by winter convertible sales standards) but with the weather improving, sales have followed suit. Mazda’s still behind its 2023 numbers, but Miata volumes have improved quite a bit since February and March, when things were looking a bit bleak. And while the Targa-like RF ticked up into the positive briefly, we’re back on the negative side for both of Mazda’s two-seaters. Let’s take a look at the June and Q2 numbers.
The numbers
June 2024 Miata sales:
- Mazda Miata: 453 (-3.8%)
- Mazda Miata RF: 323 (-18.2%)
- Total: 776 (-10.4%)
YTD 2024 Miata sales:
- Mazda Miata: 1,746 (-42.1%)
- Mazda Miata RF: 2,258 (-9.7%)
- Total: 4,004 (-27.4%)
It’s a bit late in the year to still be blaming winter weather for poor sales, especially since much of the USA warmed up earlier than usual this year. We’ll also note that the RF was consistently outselling the standard ragtop for the few months of the year. That makes it unlikely that we’re looking at some sort of statistical outlier. Miata sales are simply off in the first half of 2024. Last June was Mazda’s best month for U.S. sales ever, so 2024 has a tough act to follow.
Mazda sold 8,973 Miatas in the U.S. in 2023 — an increase of 45.4% over 2022 — and 15.7% over its total volume from 2019. So 2023 was a good year for the Miata — and as it turns out, a pretty darned good year for the industry overall. At this pace, Mazda will only sell about 5,600 Miatas this year. Obviously, there’s room for improvement.
The 2024 Miata gets an updated differential and an overhauled infotainment system that is much more feature-rich and pleasant to use. But updates don’t always translate to sales improvements, especially when they’re accompanied by production downtime to accommodate new parts or designs. Fortunately, while these updates do include new components, they’re not anything wildly different from what’s already shipping, limiting any interruption to manufacturing. Hopefully, that means full steam ahead. Happy Miata-ing!
Note: Yes, this is silly. We’re fully aware it’s silly. This silliness may morph into some other form of silliness for any (or no) reason at all. Watch this space. Or don’t. -Hurd
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