Mazda Has Discontinued Its U.s. Diesel Models


Mazda has discontinued its U.S. diesel models

The Skyactiv-D diesel engine is officially dead in the United States, Mazda confirmed. Originally slated for introduction in the Mazda6 and only eventually offered in the CX-5 crossover, Mazda's oil-burner was a long time coming, and sure didn't stick around long. 

"After evaluating consumer demand, Mazda will no longer offer the Skyactiv-D diesel engine in the US market," a Mazda spokesperson told Roadshow on Thursday. 

The CX-5 diesel has been AWOL for more than a year now, prompting inquiries as to Mazda's intentions to continue offering it in the United States. Back in April, Mazda told CarsDirect only say that "with the current state of the world, many things are tentative." Production for 2020 CX-5s wrapped in May, with no diesel allocations to be found, which prompted us (among others) to speculate that the diesel would skip the 2020 model year, if it was even to return at all. Mazda went radio silent on the subject until today. 

Diesels face an exceptionally tough uphill battle here in the States, where they haven't really gained any traction in recent years outside of full-size pickups. All of America's half-tons are now available with six-cylinder diesel engines, though Ford's own F-150 PowerBoost hybrid could cannibalize its sales among those who aren't exclusively looking for a highway tow vehicle. 

The CX-5's Skyactiv-D option was introduced for the 2019 model year, officially making it a one-year-only option. The Mazda6 was originally intended to pioneer the engine's launch in the U.S., back before Dieselgate torpedoed the diesel market and exposed widespread cheating among European manufacturers. 

In January of last year, leftover 2019 CX-5 diesels were accumulating six-figure discounts on dealer lots. Now, a year later, a handful of them (and their accompanying piles of cash) can still be found in a nationwide new vehicle listing search.