Mazda Just Had Its Best September Ever — So Why Is It Still Down for 2026?
A 31.9% jump gave Mazda its biggest September in the U.S., but slumping CX-30, CX-5 and CX-90 sales still leave the brand 2.9% behind last year.
Mazda sold 34,519 vehicles in the U.S. in September, its best September on record and 31.9% more than a year earlier. The year looks different: through nine months the brand stands at 310,268 sales, 2.9% behind 2025, and its third quarter ended slightly below last year's, in line with the mostly flat picture across the third-quarter U.S. sales results.
Part of the September jump came from the calendar and part from an easy comparison. The month had 25 selling days versus 24, so the daily selling rate rose 26.6%, according to Mazda's September report. September 2025 was also a weak month: Mazda sold 26,169 vehicles then, down 12.3% from September 2024. Against September 2024's 29,841, this year's total is up about 16%.
What moved in September
By volume, the CX-5 did the most work. It added roughly 3,100 sales to reach 11,345, up 37.8%. The Mazda3 more than doubled to 3,704, with the sedan accounting for 2,794 of them. The three-row CX-90 rose 49% to 4,632, and the two-row CX-70 nearly doubled to 1,296.
Mazda's own highlights point to its electrified models. The company says the CX-50 Hybrid and the mild-hybrid CX-90 each had their best September, and the CX-50 lineup as a whole set a September record at 9,147. That record is a narrow one. CX-50 sales rose 3.1%, and on a per-selling-day basis they slipped 1.1%.
The CX-50 Hybrid pairs a 2.5-liter four-cylinder with three electric motors for 219 hp, carries an EPA-estimated 38 mpg combined, and starts at $34,750 before a $1,595 destination charge, according to Mazda. The automaker doesn't publish separate unit counts for its hybrids, so their share of September's total can't be checked.
Why 2026 is still in the red
The year-to-date table shows a lineup splitting in two. The CX-50 is up 19.7% to 95,351, and the Mazda3 is up 42.3% to 32,486. Together they have added about 25,400 sales over last year.
Four crossovers have gone the other way. The CX-30 is down 27.1%, the CX-90 21.7%, the CX-70 21.0%, and the CX-5 9.5%. Combined, they have lost about 35,100 sales, more than the brand's entire 9,396-vehicle deficit.
The CX-5 is in its first year of a new generation, with U.S. pricing for the redesigned model announced in January. Mazda hasn't tied the decline to the changeover, and it hasn't explained what drove any of the month's swings.
The quarter, by the numbers
Mazda doesn't report quarterly totals. Adding its July report (39,180, down 13%) and August report (34,735, down 8.9%) to September gives 108,434 vehicles for the third quarter. By our math from Mazda's monthly percentages, that is about 1% below the same three months of 2025.
For comparison, Toyota Motor North America's September sales rose 8.4%, or 4.0% per selling day, and its third quarter finished up 0.6% as its electrified sales jumped 28.5%. Mazda's September pace beat Toyota's, but its quarter didn't. Hyundai, which leans harder on hybrids, posted a record third quarter.
Elsewhere in the report, the MX-5 Miata rose 31.5% to 689 sales and is up 4.1% for the year. Certified pre-owned sales climbed 3.7% to 6,194.
Mazda's October figures are due in early November. To finish 2026 ahead of last year, it would need to outsell its fourth quarter of 2025 by more than 9,400 vehicles.
