Why Did Mazda Discontinue The CX-3

Mazda, long known in America for sedans, hatchbacks, and roadsters, introduced a small crossover SUV for the model year 2016 called the CX-3 to shake up the market. Melding its customary fun handling with a little more cargo space and optional AWD, Mazda made its entry-level SUV small but likable, with enviable gas mileage and better handling than its class peers. 

Over the years, nicer trims were offered until the SUV that started with an MSRP of $19,960 back in 2016 became an upscale-trim small crossover with an MSRP just under $28,000 in 2019. Unfortunately for the CX-3 model, Mazda was producing a number of SUVs in the 2000s, including the CX-30, CX-5, and three-row CX-9. The CX-3 had a lot of competition within its own stable at close to the same price range. For example, the larger CX-5 Sport had a lower MSRP ($24,350) in 2019 than the top-trim CX-3. 

By 2021, the CX-3 was discontinued for the U.S. market. Was its non-competitive pricing the sole reason it was pulled?

Although the two-row CX-3 is designed to seat five, we weren't the only reviewers who found the second-row seating to be cramped and the cargo space small. Motor Trend and Car and Driver also noted the lack of legroom for average-size adults.

When the CX-30 came along in 2020, its new design and shape gave shoppers five more inches where it counted, apparently. Buyers began moving over to this larger vehicle, which also provided 38 more horsepower.

Mazda's CX-5 SUV was even larger than the CX-30, making it more than 10 inches longer than the CX-3. It became Mazda's best-selling SUV in the U.S. by the time the automaker decided to pull the CX-3 off the market here. Buyers had gravitated to Mazda's bigger models since they were close enough in price and featured fresh or refreshed designs, while the CX-3 stuck solidly to its first-generation design through seven years.

Looking at April sales data from 2021, it became clear where America's preference lay: Mazda sold 14,883 CX-5, 3,188 CX-30, and only 893 CX-3. The Japanese automaker needed to say goodbye to the CX-3 as the SUV was struggling to find buyers. 

Apparently that wasn't just American tastes talking. The vehicle carried on for a few more months of sales in the European market, but production ended there, as well, in December 2021. 

But in a surprise twist, Australia has taken such a shine to the CX-3 that Mazda continued to sell the crossover all the way up to the 2024 model year. It was a top-ten-selling SUV Down Under as of June 2024, moving 1,598 units that month — years after it was cancelled in the U.S. It has even gained new standard features in the meantime, such as rear cross traffic alert and blind spot monitoring. So, buyers who are in desperate need of a CX-3 can still score a new one in a wide choice of trims — they'll just have to settle for right-hand drive.