Mazda has always been considered a much more reliable brand in Europe than in North America. In fact, Europeans for a while have been voting Mazda as the most reliable automobile brand. Here is my theory: While small Mazda cars as far as I can remember (starting with GLC, Protege, and Miata) have always been very reliable, larger cars, especially those equipped with automatic transmissions have been lagging behind. Traditionally, we in NA prefer big engines and automatic transmissions, while Europeans do not mind shifting the gears themselves and revving up the engines. While it is possible to buy anything from subcompact to a huge SUV from Mazda USA these days, most of the newer Mazdas sold in the NA are smallish. I do not know the exact numbers, but I bet in the US 3 outsells every other Mazda and had been doing it since it first came out in 2004 (it certainly does in Canada). This is contrary to the situation 10 or 20 years ago when an average Mazda out there was a 626 with an automatic transmission. Hence, the discrepancy between European and NA reliability ratings and recent advent on the CR ranking.