Mazda · 1970–2002
Mazda 626
The Mazda Capella, also known as the Mazda 626 in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, is a mid-size car that was manufactured by Mazda from 1970 until 2002. Ford, Mazda's partner at the time, also used the Capella platform to create the Ford Telstar and Ford Probe. 4,345,279 of the 626 and Telstar models were sold worldwide. Designed to compete against Japanese mid-size stalwarts such as the Honda Accord, Toyota Corona, and Nissan Bluebird, the Capella was succeeded by the Mazda6 (Atenza) in 2002. The car was named after Capella, the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, the sixth-brightest in the night sky and the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus and Vega.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Generations & variants
Photos
UK vehicles on the road
209 licensed and 1,082 SORN (1,291 total) at 2025 Q4.
| Year (latest quarter) | Vehicles |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 7,427 |
| 2015 | 5,923 |
| 2016 | 4,692 |
| 2017 | 3,628 |
| 2018 | 2,860 |
| 2019 | 2,364 |
| 2020 | 2,064 |
| 2021 | 1,798 |
| 2022 | 1,608 |
| 2023 | 1,483 |
| 2024 | 1,376 |
| 2025 | 1,291 |
DfT/DVLA VEH0120 vehicle licensing statistics, source ↗, Open Government Licence v3.0. Small counts are rounded or suppressed at source.
US safety recalls
-
15V674000 2015-10-19 · model years 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:SWITCH
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 1989-1998 MPV, 1990-1995 323, 1990-1998 Protege, 1992-1993 MX-3, 1993-1995 929, 1993-1997 MX-6, and 1993-1998 626 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, grease applied to the contact points inside the ignition switch may become conductive and…
Remedy: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ignition switch, free of charge. The recall began on December 17, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800-222-5500, option#6. Mazda's…
NHTSA recalls database (US government, public domain). Recalls apply to US-market vehicles; check the manufacturer for your country.
Sources
- Wikidata / Wikipedia profiles — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/cars/Q1542973CC0 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_CapellaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Intro text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1371740356 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- DfT/DVLA VEH0120 licensing statistics — https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tablesOpen Government Licence v3.0
- NHTSA recalls database — https://www.nhtsa.gov/recallsUS Government public domain
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.