Other cosmetic surgery, including new bumpers and backlights, give the MPV’s rear end a tight, sporty look. With its restyled headlights, new hood, more muscular front fenders and new, more aggressive-looking grille, the 2004 Mazda MPV looks less like a minivan than previous models do. Mazda has a point, at least in contending that its new MPV is not “run-of-the-mill.” “The Mazda MPV would be more accurately called a large sport wagon with seating for seven than a run-of-the-mill, grocery-carting minivan,” the company says in its MPV press materials. That is why Mazda is begging consumers to think of its new MPV as anything but a minivan, SUV or ordinary station wagon. Favorable public perception is needed for retail glory.
The tested 2004 Mazda MPV does all of those things quite well. Children and adults still have a need to transport themselves and their things, often in large numbers. Families still consist of children and adults. Thus, the term “station wagon” joined the list of opprobrious automotive nomenclature along with “SUV” and “minivan.”īut although fashions change, basic transportation needs seldom do. Station wagons, at least as a vehicle category, died in the energy crises of the 1970s and never quite rose from that grave. SUVs eventually supplanted the tubular vans as favored family haulers but SUVs also became successful enough to engender public enmity. Station wagons seemed nonexistent.īut popularity often is a predecessor to contempt and in due time, minivans became contemptible to many auto buyers for reasons having nothing to do with their intrinsic value. created the minivan market in the United States with the introduction of its Caravan and Voyager models. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these passenger air bag inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.Mazda introduced its MPV family vehicle in 1988 in a bid to have it taken seriously as a minivan. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment.
On Jthis recall was expanded to include certain 2004-2011 RX-8 vehicles that were previously recalled under 16V-354 but have not yet been repaired. Mazda is also recalling 2005-2006 MPV vehicles in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S.
Mazda North America Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed MPV vehicles nationwide.