Of those 23,621 sales, the Mazda3 (in both sedan and hatchback form) only accounted for 2,496 of them. To put this in perspective, the CX-5 crossover (Mazda's best-seller) moved 12,908 units, which was an increase of 21.2 percent compared to 2019 even with no major changes for the 2020 model. Mazda3 sales have now plummeted by 45.7 percent compared to January 2019 when the model sold 4,596 units. It might be easy to explain that Mazda buyers simply prefer crossovers but even the Mazda6 sedan, which is now several years older than the Mazda3, saw an uptick of 8.4 percent for the month of January.

These Mazda3 sales are tough to explain because, by all accounts, it is a great car and one of the freshest models in Mazda's lineup. It debuted with sexy new styling, a premium interior, and the addition of all-wheel-drive for the first time ever. The Mazda3 and Subaru Impreza are now the only non-premium compact sedans to offer AWD, but perhaps shoppers who are looking for this feature have all migrated to crossovers.

