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Automotive News [sub] reports that the Mazda2 (Demio in Japan) has been approved for a Fall 2010 launch in the US market. Mazda is clearly targeting the Honda Fit’s recent success, with only the 5-door, 1.5 liter version approved for the US. The stateside rollout will also coincide with a mid-cycle refresh, which means the interior will be improved over the current European version. Unfortunately, this also means the 2 will be saddled with Mazda’s new Pikachu-on-SSRIs grin. Still, the new baby Mazda should take a little oxygen out of Ford’s Fiesta launch next year, as the two vehicles were developed simultaneously on the same platform.
36 Comments on “Mazda2 Approved for US Launch...”
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It’s about time!
Cool. They announced this for Canada a couple months ago – I expect it to a be huge seller up here. We have a broad demographic buying the Fit and equivalent.
How well do the B&B State-side think it will do south of the 49th?
Mazda has so much going for it, it’s just all the more tragic that their otherwise desirable cars have that loathsome and ridiculous front end.
5 weeks into my C4C Mazda 3 and I’m loving it.
To include the front end.
AlexD :
How well do the B&B State-side think it will do south of the 49th?
Depends on where gas prices go. Prices have been steady around $2.50 +/- $.30, and I think that people are already getting used to it, forgetting about last year’s spike. Unless something causes another spike, I fear that memories will be short and sub-compacts will languish except for entry-level buyers and the eco-conscious.
I actually like the grin the more I see it. It’s distinctive, dynamic and they’ve done it across the line, so it’s cohesive. At least it’s not droopy.
It’s also very JDM, but hey…
Mazda initially didn’t want to bring the 2 to the US due to fears it would cannabalize 3 sales, I wonder what changed…
I love the new Mazda front ends, they just look fun. Since the Mazda brand message is all about zoom-zoom and fun the smiling grills are a perfect fit.
Mazdaspeed-2 anyone? Please?
Mazda initially didn’t want to bring the 2 to the US due to fears it would cannabalize 3 sales, I wonder what changed…
I suspect it’s because the 3 sells at a relative premium and they realize they’re losing more dollars to buyers who can’t afford the 3 than they would on cannibalization.
It’s the same reason Honda brought the Fit: the Civic was getting too pricey and they didn’t want a generation of people whose first car purchase was an Echo/Yaris. VW in Canada gave us the Golf & Jetta “City” for the same reason: the base Rabbit costs more than entry-level buyers will pay.
Why does it automatically become an issue of “can’t afford it” ?
Perhaps people don’t want to spend that much money on a depreciating “asset”. How about: won’t pay it?
This is a better looking car than the Mazda 3. For less money. Fine by me.
Doesn’t mean I can’t “afford” a 3, just won’t spend that kind of money on fugly.
I rather like the new Mazda styling. It’s different, attractive and the models are premium in feel and quality without the cost. A win-win-win for any owner.
Great news, but I was hoping that they would bring over the 2 door hatch. The 4 door still looks nice, but I really love the 2 door. I’ll jump on board with those clamoring for a Speed2. It’s light, so with 103hp it should get around just fine, but imagine how killer it would be with even the Miata’s engine?
This is good for Mazda as a brand. Zoom-zoom does not include SUVs/rebadged Ford trucks.
I’ve got to bring sanity back into the room: the new Mazdas look goofy…period. However, that being said, it appears this interation has abandon its sibling’s silly grin, although the rest of the car looks just as goofy. Sigh…once a Japanese car, always a Japanese car…
I don’t know about all the Mazda design hate, I think the grin is better than the old 3’s tortured front end. Either way I loved the old 3 (to drive) enough that it’s been my top recomendation in it’s class. No matter what, you can’t buy a Mazda hatch just to look cool, which isn’t entirely a bad thing (just mostly).
If this car is as fun to drive as the 3 (albeit slower) I might even buy one. The fiesta will just be a heavier, and less fun, close relation, but it probably will look better.
Oh come on, SSRI is just a little obscure, don’t you think?
I’ve been waiting and hoping for the Mazda2’s arrival since I first read about it on this site over 2 years ago. If only they would bring it over as a two door hatchback instead of a four door hatch. At least it’s better looking than the plain hideous four door with a trunk design that I saw initially proposed for the US.
Sigsworth: This is the internet. Everyone’s on something.
+ 1000 on the “can’t” vs “won’t” camp. I’m driving my son’s 1997 Toyota Tercel (now with 188k on it) and I’m eyeing the future for my “next” car…and I’m no fan of dumping an ass-load of money on a rapidly depreciating purchase. Maybe in a year or two as either the mazda2 or new fiesta come off-lease, I’d consider one. I don’t need, nor want, a massive SUV (or even CUV) for my extremely short commute. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I truly hope that fun, entertaining small cars like this make serious inroads here in the USA and that we (collectively) come to the realization that we don’t NEED huge battle wagons to get our driving needs taken care of.
I think the Fiesta would outsell the Mazda 2 due to the fact that Ford has more dealerships than Mazda in North America. But how many dealers do each have?
You realize that waxing philosophical on the internet then buying a used car is doing exactly zero to help entertaining small cars gain a foothold here, let alone make serious inroads.
Well I did my part. I bought a Mazda 3 and told them on the survey that they sent me that I wanted them to bring the Mazda 2 to the US. Maybe I should have specified the 2 door. Drat. I may still buy this anyway if it isn’t too much slower than my 3.
If you would tell me 5 years ago “buy a Mazda”, I would say “WHAAAT??, why?”
Now, after driving the 3 hatchback for 3 years, I can say that if you would ask me to design the front end of the new 2010 I would do the same thing, put a smile right there, I don’t know any car for that price that can put a big smile on your face every time you drive it, when I bought it new in 06, I had to look for one on the road, you can see more of them now, many more, and it’s about time for Mazda to bring more cars here.
I’m originally from a small country in the middle east, Israel, with population of about 8 mil, same as in the city I live now, NYC, but what special about Israelis is the cars they drive, most popular is the Mazda3, I mean, in every traffic light there are about 4 of them, last month I was there for a visit, my rental was a Mazda3, it was impossible to find the car in a parking lot, no kidding.
Now, I wonder why is that here in the US we all drive Corollas?
I really do not mean to pick on Ford here, but anytime I see any car that will go head to head with any Ford product (in this case, the Fiesta), I am happy.
Ford seems to be very independent these days when it comes to pricing (and unwillingness to significantly discount their offerings), despite tragic pre- and post-CFC sales.
Maybe the competition will spur them to see the light of reality before their sales plunge even more on a relative basis.
ohsnapback –
Since Ford still owns a substantial stake in Mazda (even after selling a good bit off recently) sales of Mazda2s will in some ways help ford. Also, I’m not sure where the 2s will be built, if Mazda will have their own factory or if they will be built alongside Fiestas like Tributes are along Escapes and Mariners, or Mazda6s along Mustangs, in which case the extra factory capacity helps Ford, as does whatever Mazda is paying for the factory space.
In any event, the Mazda2 isn’t going to be the major competitor to the Fiesta. The big targets are going to be the Fit, Versa and the Yaris – Mazda just doesn’t have the dealer network in place or high enough sales of any model to be a major threat.
I disagree completely about the sales though, Ford sales were climbing much faster than a lot of competitors before C4C, and made a very nice showing during C4C and would have done a lot better had there been sufficient inventory on lots. Deep discounts, heavily subsidized leases, and huge rebates, while they may drive some business up front, are eventually the road to ruin. Not only do they cost the manufacturer and the dealers money up front, they drive down resale value, and give the brand a cheaper image in the public eye, both of which will drive away better customers and lead to dealers fighting for the credit challenged and the scraps, which leads to more discounts, defaulted loans, the loss of more money, and eventual financial failure.
I’ve personally lost some sales in the past several months due to the fact that GM, Chrysler, and Hyundai are pushing out bigger incentives that we can’t compete with, but a lot of customers have also realized we have the better product and have been willing to spend the extra money. It hurts a bit in the short term, but for long term viability you can’t drop your pants on every sale.
i thought Ford had to sell their entire share in Mazda, could easily be wrong though.
i drove one of these a few years back, an auto one. it’s very refined at idle, no vibration at all. it worked quite well as an auto as it shifted just went i wanted instead of upshifting too early like the Swift does
This is an interesting car.
Mazda has worked hard on saving weight, so this is lighter than the previous Mazda 2.
The usual lazy way of a car manufacturer is to make the new model porkier.
Then it will be slower, so they add some more hp to compensate.
By the way; What´s so bad about a car that´s smiling???
“i thought Ford had to sell their entire share in Mazda, could easily be wrong though.”
They used to have 33%, they now have 13%.
Should be sensible shoes for most secretaries that would not care less about cars. As should the Fiesta.
It’s been on sale in Australia for a few months (longer??) and quite a few seem to be getting around already. Neat little car.
Surprisingly, many of the ones I’ve seen appear to be the greener-than-Kermit fluoro green. Mind you, I’m often surprised to see a bright yellow Porsche, or a “not-red” Ferrari (what a waste).
*giggle*
As a Something Awful goon, I feel I must share this:
Emergency Mazda3 Redesign
http://i37.tinypic.com/wj9ao8.jpg
Would this work for the 2 as well? :p
The Mazda2 is a lot better looking than the new 3. (Spoken as a previous-gen 3 owner.) The European press seems to think the Fiesta — which shares the 2’s platform — has a better ride/handling balance and a less tinny-feeling interior, but who knows how the U.S.-spec versions of both will come out.
If Ford did a good-looking new version of the Puma sport coupe, I might be tempted.
“Should be sensible shoes for most secretaries that would not care less about cars.”
What would you consider to be a small car for people who do care about cars? Sounds like this will be the choice for people who want nice handling and steering, much like the 3 and 6 are compared to their competitors.
‘Demetri :
September 18th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
“Should be sensible shoes for most secretaries that would not care less about cars.”
What would you consider to be a small car for people who do care about cars? Sounds like this will be the choice for people who want nice handling and steering, much like the 3 and 6 are compared to their competitors.’
Depending on their needs and location, I have far better suggestions than the competent Fiesta, aka Mazda 2.
Top of my head:
Honda Civic, or, more appropriate, the new Honda Fit.
You get just as good, if not better, handling and steering, and unbeatable reliability and, esp., interior quality, materials and ergonomics.
Honda may have lost its way with the current Accord and many other models, but it still is the best in making high-quality small cars.
If you do a lot of highway miles, get a GOlf-jetta- Jetta Sportswagen DIESEL. 45 mpg highway easy. If you get one of the older, lighter, less powerful Jetta Diesels, a colleague’s wife with a 90s jetta gets 51 highway. Even the prius can’t get that much on the highway (it can get more than that, but only in the city at low speeds)
The Prius gen II, new or used, if you live in places like the Los Angeles area.
“Honda Civic, or, more appropriate, the new Honda Fit.
You get just as good, if not better, handling and steering, and unbeatable reliability and, esp., interior quality, materials and ergonomics.”
No, those things are about the same in a Honda and a Mazda
Yeah, I bought a 3 over the Civic and the interior is better styled and better quality in my opinion. As far as ergonomics, the Civic loses for me because the shifter is too far away. It’s like the manual transmission was a an afterthought. The 2 tier gauges also turn a lot of people off. Mazda reliability is pretty dependent on model and the 3 has shown to be very reliable. I will say that the Civic’s handling is way better with this generation, and just as good as the 3, at least in the coupe variant which is the one I was comparing it to. The engine is a tradeoff. You’ll get better fuel economy with the Civic, but the 3 has more power, which is what I wanted. The Mazda also cost me about $1,500 less.
Hard to say what the 2 will be like when it gets here, but I got the impression that it was really nimble. I wasn’t impressed with the interior pictures that I looked at, but supposedly they are addressing that with a refresh. It also has a nice 300 lb weight advantage on the Fit, but doesn’t offer as much engine.
What I would like to see from Honda is the City. I know, hatchback is better and all that, but I’m not schlepping cargo so what do I care? The City is a nicer looking car with a much nicer looking interior (new Fit is a bit of a step back I think), and with the sedan bodystyle you should get minor bonuses in weigh and rigidity, and at least in the US the sedan version always seems to cost a little less.
I’m not sure if it’s a possible trend, but here on Okinawa, I’ve only really seen the Demio, a.k.a Mazda2, as a member of the rental car fleet. In that regard, they are very popular. But, I will say that we should be thankful that Mazda is sending the current Demio to the States, and not the previous generation. Those were worse looking than the current Mazdas with the smiley face front end!