TheMazda Miataholds a special place in the automotive industry as living proof that you don’t need to break the bank tohave some fun. The market has rewarded Mazda year after year with nearly four decades of strong sales. While the rest of the industry has its ups and downs, it’s hard to find one lousy sales year for the MX-5.
There’s no secret trick to it. Mazda’s market strategy is as simple as it gets. Build a quick, nimble roadster, and sell it cheap. Here’s how that approach has kept the nameplate thriving for 37 years.
There Is No “Close Second Place” Winner
2025 Mazda MX-5 35th Anniversary 3/4 Angle On Track StaticMazda
The Miata is effectively the only car in the running for the title of top-selling roadster. Mazda recently revealed in an investor feedback report that the figures for the Miata currently stand at 1.27 million sold. Japanese sales passed 10,000 units from Jan to Dec 2025, the first time since 1998, helped by more young buyers. This indicates that the Miata is not going to slow down anytime soon.
The distant second place position goes to the MG MGB. You’ve never even heard of that one, have you? It was fairly popular during its production run from 1962 to 1980, selling somewhere around 514,000 units over 18 years. The Miata beat that number in just over a decade, selling 561,255 units by the end of 2000.
If you want to fill out a top-10 list, you’re going to be digging up a lot of pre-Oil Crisis imports. The Austin-Healey Sprite, for instance, had a production run of 354,164 units from the 1950s to the 1970s. England built 152,308 Triumph TRs in the 1950s and 1960s. The Fiat 850 Spider hit six figures from 1965 to 1973. If there was a golden age for roadsters, it was around 60 years ago, and it was mostly European models.
The Porsche Boxster Is The Only Other Roadster In The Running
2025 Porsche 718 Boxster front 3/4 angle in silver while parkedPorsche
In the modern era (and until the new Tesla Roadster actually comes out), the only roadster that’s really worth a mention besides the Miata would be the Porsche Boxster, in production since 1996 with more than 400,000 units built. The number is closer to 580,000 units if you want to include its hard-top Cayman sibling. Still well short of the Miata’s seven-digit sales numbers, but as close as anyone is ever likely to get.
Comparing the basic specs, we can see why Miata is keeping ahead of Porsche in overall sales.
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Porsche 718 Boxster
Engine
2.0-Liter NA 4-Cylinder
2.0-Liter Turbocharged 4-Cylinder
HP
181 hp
300 hp
0-60
6.4 Seconds
4.7 Seconds
Base MSRP
$30,730
$74,900
The Boxster is quicker, more powerful, and it’s a Porsche. But the Miata sells for less than half the price. A Boxster is something you might buy after a big promotion. The Miata is accessible to just about anyone.
Mazda Saw A 7.7% Sales Bump Last Year
Part of what keeps the Miata relevant is the fact that Mazda doesn’t need to sell a quarter million units every year to stay in business. Mazda sold 8,727 Miatas in 2025, marking a 7.7% bump in sales from the year prior. That might not be enough units to dominate the SUV or pickup segments, but it’s plenty for a roadster.
2026 is tracking to be another strong year for the nameplate, with 7,598 YTD sales (as of the end of September) marking a 4.1% bump from this time a year ago.
The Mazda Miata Had A Very Strong Debut
1990 Mazda Miata NA White Lights On Front Angle Goodwood Track DrivingMazda
Going over some key sales figures for this car.
- The Miata’s best global sales year was its first full sales year, 1990, with 75,789 units sold worldwide.
- The US bought 35,944 Miatas in 1990, while Japan bought 25,226 units.
- Japan and the US remain the car’s strongest markets.
- The fourth-gen’s strongest sales year was 2017 with 11,294 units sold.
- Mazda has sold more than 1.2 million Miatas since the car’s debut in 1989.
The Mazda Miata first hit the market at just $13,800 in February 1989. Adjusting for inflation, that comes out to $38,238. It’s worth noting that the Miata’s base MSRP is even lower than that in 2026, with the Sport model starting at just $30,730.
Economically speaking, 1989 was a “cooling off” year after the dramatic highs of the 1980s. Easing into the early 1990s, an affordable, fuel-efficient compact made more sense than an Italian import that you might never finish paying off.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. 1989 was the perfect time to launch the Miata. 2026, with its record-high gas prices and tariffs on top of tariffs, is a perfect time to buy one.
We’ve Seen Some Really Cool Miatas Over The Years
Mazda has produced some interesting special edition models over the years. Here are a few of our favorites.
2003 Mazda Miata MX-5 Miata Club Sport
2003 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club Sport Pure White Front AngleBring A Trailer
Mazda only produced 50 of these 142-hp roadsters, intended to be the purest factory-built sports car you could buy. Power steering, climate control, and wind deflectors were all pulled to trim the weight, and Mazda packed an upgraded Bilstein suspension setup with limited-slip differential into the car.
2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata Gran Turismo Sport Edition
2018 Mazda Miata Gran Turismo Sport Edition FrontMazda Taiwan
A one-of-one 155-hp model built to celebrate the release of Gran Turismo Sport on the PlayStation 4. This car was built by Mazda Taiwan and sold for 1.398 million Taiwanese dollars (or around $43,500 USD) as part of a bundle that included a 12-month subscription to PS Plus, a 65-inch Sony Bravia TV set, and a Thrustmaster T-GT steering wheel controller.
1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata Le Mans Edition
1991 Mazda MX-5 Miata Le Mans Edition Front AngleThe Hairpin Company
Built to commemorate Mazda’s first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 787B in 1991. Mazda only built 24 of these 150-hp turbo-four models, and sold them exclusively in the UK.
The Miata Has Only Gotten More Affordable
For 2026, the Mazda Miata is available across three soft-top trims and two hard-top (Retractable Fastback) trims, as follows.
Trim
MSRP
Sport
$30,730
Club
$34,230
Grand Touring
$36,030
RF Club
$42,200
RF Grand Touring
$38,750
If you’d like to save even more money by buying something a few years old, our price tracker sees a 2021 Grand Touring model selling at $26,028, down 18.1% from its initial MSRP of $31,770. Miatas are so affordable to begin with that you don’t really need to wait for a massive depreciation fall-off.
We were able to find the following used listings, all with under 60,000 miles on the odometer.
- A 2020 Sport is selling for $21,892 in Florida.
- A 2022 Grand Touring is selling for $22,407 in California.
- A 2022 Grand Touring is selling for $26,295 in Florida.
- A 2022 Club is selling for $22,995 in Nebraska.
- A 2020 Grand Touring is selling for $24,991 in California.
These listings are only provided to give you an example of what’s out there. There’s no telling what will be available in your area when you’re ready to buy.
If you want to buy an older model, it’s not hard to find a 2006 with low miles selling for under $10,000. This is what we mean when we say that the Miata is everybody’s sports car, and that’s how it’s stayed on top for so long.
Sources: Mazda
