I will put it in very simple terms - at the end of the day - cash is king! Mazda, just like every other car company in the world is in this business to
make money (cash). Mazda's purpose is not to please only a handful of people with unique needs because a handful of people is not enough to pay the bills. Mazda's "mission" is to make money! Simple as that.
Also, Mazda is a very much 100% mainstream brand and sadly, it was not doing too well up until few years ago. The whole partnership with Ford up until recently is no coincidence.
Don't kid yourself - there is nothing unique about them or their cars. The fact that the new CX-9 Signature is a bit nicer inside than all the other "non-luxury" options in the class is cool and appreciated by a handful of us, but hardly is a big deal. If it was such a big deal, the CX-9 sales would not be so mediocre and local dealers won't be giving $7-8k off on every new loaded '18 CX-9. They are NOT selling like hot cakes. Why is that? Mazda is not some exotic, high demand, limited production, cool brand that everyone is drooling over. Never was. Not even close. This is the plain reality - like it or not. 90% of Mazda's cars are as mainstream as it gets, but they still can't win a ton of customers. Something must not be working so well. Lets hope they figure it out soon.
Are you implying Mazda is like Tesla? Really? I see zero similarity.
What Tesla is doing is actually truly unique, BUT.... it comes at a huge cost. Tesla is burning through cash like crazy. Financially the company is not doing well, at all. If it was not for the generous US government subsidies, they would be dead by now. If the Model 3 does not take off and if the company fails to support it long term - forget Tesla. Cool idea, unique cars, but despite their crazy high cost - they are still losing money. Yet.... GM, Ford, the Germans and now Hyundai are all coming out with long range, affordable, cool all electric cars that cost 1/3 the Tesla price, and are not sold at a loss.
Mazda, as a car company, has not impressed me yet. I have driven the lower trims of the CX-5 and the Mazda 6/3 (as loaners or rentals) and i can say that i was not impressed at all. There were plenty of cheap touches, noisy interiors, so-so seats, bad stereo systems, so-so brakes, and poor sounding 4-cyl engines when pushed hard. All these cars did not feel or look or drive any better than mainstream alternatives from Hyundai, Toyota, Ford or Nissan. Actually, i would pick a base trim Ford Fusion SE or Hyundai Sonata over a base trim Mazda 6, any day....I would also pick a Hyundai Tucson 1.6T over a CX-5 any day, but that's just me.
This is why i am having really hard time with your comment above, about Mazda being "out of the mainstream". I don't see it and i am not the only one.
This discussion is getting completely off-topic. I will say this and leave it there - I really like my CX-9 Signature and i enjoy it as much as everyone here, but i refuse to be a "fanboy" who puts his head in the sand and never praises or recognizes anything but Mazda.
The CX-9 in Signature trim is a very nice car/CUV and offers a lot for the money to meet MY current needs, especially when bought at a discount. You get a lot of car. Some of the nice things it offers and i care about are not found in the competition, agreed. However, the competition offers some other options/toys/specs that the CX-9 simply doesn't have. Fact!
At this stage of my life and given the other cars i have parked in my driveway, the CX-9 is the right choice for me, but it is NOT the perfect car. If i needed a slightly larger SUV with an actual cargo space, real 4WD system, and more power under the hood, or if i truly cared about the latest technology in infotainment - i would have never bought the CX-9. Luckily, my wife's SUV covers most of these gaps very well and more, so i am happy.