HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Hiley Mazda of Huntsville unveiled its new model Thursday evening.
MTM executives, along with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, all there to celebrate the Huntsville, home-built vehicle.
The General Manager of Hiley Mazda says it's an exciting time for the city. "It's just an extremely exciting event. The fact that we have something that's made here that's able to employ so many of our residents, and then we get to see something that's home built, brought to us, in our home dealership, and be able to sell this vehicle and people enjoy it and take advantage of this wonderful product Mazda has to offer," said Hiley Mazda of Huntsville General Manager, Michael Ponter.
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We’ve heard about the new Mazda CX-50. We’ve seen it too! Pretty soon the new ride made right here in Huntsville will roll out to dealerships.
However, if you’re in search of a new car, the current price of gas may be on your mind.
FOX54's Keneisha Deas caught up with the General Manager of Hiley Mazda of Huntsville to answer those questions and more.
For General Manager Michael Ponter, the arrival of the Mazda CX-50 is‘ exciting’. “Oh, it’s super exciting. There’s just a lot to it for our community.”
A model is currently on display, and Ponter said you can expect to see some by Mid-April and even by late April to early May.
“Everybody wants to make sure a new vehicle fits for what it is that they’re looking for to accomplish in their automotive needs. And so we don’t expect you to do that without being able to see, touch, feel, drive the automobile. And we do have one, on our showroom floor ready for you to view,” said Ponter.
With high-priced gas not going down anytime soon, questions about gas mileage may come up.
“It provides you with all-wheel drive, and all the safety features standard that still gets you 24 miles per gallon in the city, and 30 miles per gallon on the highway. So it’s got excellent fuel economy. It’s not something that you’re going to have to worry about wearing you out at the pump,” said Ponter.
Ponter says, however, to look out for hybrid models. “We are looking at later on down the road, probably late this year having a plug-in hybrid entry. So, that is something to look forward to and something that will save you even more money.”
Another question is how the staggering supply chain is impacting the number of cars you’ll see on the lot. “It is tight, however, Mazda has done a very, very good job of providing us with vehicles.” “We have a large supply of incoming units. And the math, probably have got somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 cars total that are out there for availability, whether they’re here on the grounds whether they’re in transit from the factory or whether they’ve been built right now. So it’s something that we can overcome, and we do feel like it’s going to get better, as we go throughout the summer months and into the winter.”
Ponter says the sticker price for the CX-50 starts at $26,800. Although it is made in Huntsville, there will be a delivery fee.