Farewell To The Mazda 6 – We'll Miss You

We're going to miss the Mazda 6. For more than 15 years, the Mazda 6 offered a level of athleticism, sportiness, and performance competitors simply could not match. We sold a ton of Mazda 6s to keen drivers, customers who knew their way around a sharp corner, Mazda believers who recognized finesse and chassis balance. 

But now, at least for right now, Mazda is pulling the plug on the Mazda 6. Why?

Sales in Canada's midsize segment have all but disappeared since The Great Recession of 2008. In 2007, Canadians were buying 3,000 midsize cars per week. Now Canadians aren't buying even 2,500 over the course of a month. Times have changed.

And Mazda's more than ready to meet that change. Already, more than three-quarters of the vehicles Mazda sells in Canada are CX crossovers: CX-3, CX-30, CX-5, and CX-9. Plus, the spirit of the MX-5 Miata – jinba ittai – that was so evident in the Mazda 6 is abundantly obvious in Mazda's SUVs, too. These are the SUVs for keen drivers who know their way around a sharp corner and who recognize finesse and chassis balance.

As for the Mazda 6, how about a little retrospective?

The Mazda 6 arrived in 2002 as a successor to the long-running Mazda 626 that had been a part of Mazda's lineup for more than three decades. Performance was central to the new midsize Mazda, as evidenced by Car And Driver's review in December 2002. "Bend the 6 into a turn, and the quick steering points the car intuitively. There's enough weight just off center to keep the car from feeling nervous in a straight line, but enough eagerness to goad the driver into dishing out more of the same. Steering effort builds nicely in corners, and when leaning hard on the Michelin Pilots, they hang on for 0.84 g with little squealing and minimal body roll." 

Mazda made the first 6 available with a V6 engine, provided ample manual transmission availability, and even offered a trio of bodystyles. In addition to the sedan, there was a 5-door liftback and a gorgeous wagon. Then in 2006, along came an extremely elevated dose of performance: the Mazdaspeed 6, with all-wheel drive, a turbocharged 274-horsepower engine, and a 6-speed manual transmission. "Mazda is a company that gets it, the big IT, the reason we're all meeting here at this page today: control, balance, fun," Car And Driver said in January 2006.

The first-generation Mazda 6 was named Canada's Best New Family Vehicle in 2004 (as the Mazda 3 won Car Of The Year). In 2005, the Mazda 6 Sport was Best New Family Car and the Mazda 6 Sport Wagon was named Best New Station Wagon. 

For 2009, Mazda dropped the liftback and wagon for North American markets when an all-new Mazda 6 rolled out. There was still V6 power and a remarkably athletic chassis, but the second-gen 6 gained space and refinement. The new Mazda 6 was named AJAC's Canada's Best New Family Car yet again in 2009. 

With a new third-generation Mazda 6 arriving for the 2014 model year, focusing again on sportier-than-normal dynamics while adding a distinctly premium flair and one of the most attractive sedan bodies of the modern era, Mazda once again became a major award winner. AJAC's Canadian Car Of The Year for 2014 was the Mazda 6. (Mazda is the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada's most awarded brand ever; the Mazda 3 won Canadian Car Of The Year in 2020 and 2021.)

Mazda upped the ante with the third-generation Mazda 6 in 2018 with a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine from the CX-9. It a gem of an engine now available in the 3, CX-3, and CX-5, as well. Mazda also added luxury by way of a range-topping Signature model.

"As the flagship sedan in our lineup," Mazda Canada says, "the Mazda6 represented premium design, performance, quality, and safety, and helped shape the brand throughout the three generations that were sold in Canada." 

The Mazda 6 will be missed. But no one knows the sedan market's future. Moreover, no auto brand is more prepared to offer sports-sedan like handling in a full lineup of spectacular utility vehicles.