Where else would Mazda choose to introduce their newest sub-compact but in Quebec?
The newest member of the Mazda family sports a 1.5L Skyactiv 4-cylinder making 113 horsepower, up 13 from the current car. On the other hand, weight is up by 88 lbs, while the car gains nearly 6 inches in length, 1 inch in height and 3 inches in wheelbase. All told, the car should weigh about 2400 lbs and measure in at 160 inches long – specs that make it identical in power and footprint to a first-generation Miata.
While the leisurely acceleration of the old car should remain, the Skyactiv chassis, powertrain and all-new styling represent a clean break from the old, Fiesta-derived Mazda2. The interior appears to be a scaled down version of what’s offered in larger Mazdas, right down to the tablet-like LCD screen. As with other Mazda products, fuel economy should be at the top of the pack. Pricing and availability weren’t announced, but the new Mexican assembly of the Mazda2 might make for a less expensive sticker price.
Other things which look good in red/white/black:
Power Rangers
Wallpaper in my 1990s childhood bedroom
Conference rooms at local Hyatt in 1995
I like the exterior, but the interior color combo is yucky.
Knowing how Mazda Canada orders cars, they’ll mostly be white, black or some kind of grey.
I am tired of plain black and too-light-it-makes-me-puke-parchment. I like the gray leather in our Subaru, but how about mocha/cocoa/ whatever brown leather? Shades of grey? Dare I say it – navy blue? Complementary colors? Spice it up!
Rectal bleeding & Prep H ruin pastal seating.
I would trade my 2 in for this in an instant if they would, you know, sell it in the US.
They would and it will be called “Scion iM Hatchback”. Visit your friendly Toyota dealer for your Mazda.
Exceeeeeeept the Scion iM is the Toyota Auris.
But yes, fully aware that the rumoured Scion sedan/Mazda tie-up may have killed this car’s chances here :
When was this announced?
I like the interior, the design is unique and the materials are likely to be decent. 113hp doesn’t impress, but I thought the 2.0 and 2.5 Skyactiv powertrains are satisfying to drive, so perhaps this will follow suit.
This is going to be a prime example of a hatchback that would convince me to buy a sedan. If the photos are to be believed there is nothing behind the backseat. You can move people, or cargo, but not both. Rear passengers’ heads separated from the tailgate glass by only the headrest. God help them if they are rear-ended.
If you regularly have to transport 2+ people and their cargo, you are in a different market segment.
Tell that to Honda Fit and Nissan Versa buyers.
Its really nice till you find out that the seat and the steering wheels are offset from the centre.
I test drive one yesterday, it was all good except for the driving position, in the right hand drive version, the centre of the steering wheel is a good 2 inches to you right from the middle of your chest.
To make things worse, if u drive the manual version, the clutch pedal is where the foot rest usually is, so u’ll be rubbing your knee against the transmission tunnel
Too bad the infotainment system still doesn’t work right.
The tablet system is a huge improvement over the prior one, but it is still glitchy. Plus, it has some functionality hiccups that are head scratchers. Seriously, I can’t figure out why it’s so hard for car companies to understand how a stereo should work and make it robust. Most systems would be better if a 10 yr old version of ms media player was used instead.
My next car will be Android Auto or MirrorLink compatible. Period. I can’t trust these guys to do these systems reliably anymore, but I can trust Apple, Google, Samsung, Sony, LG, etc etc.
…i’m disappointed to read about the extra weight, and with the new kodo overhangs it’s difficult to discern whether those additional pounds were well-invested in usable space…still, other than the overhangs and DLO failure it’s a fairly sharp-looking hatchback, so i hope they’ve managed to keep most of its handling secret sauce: bring on a mazdaspeed edition!..
It is slightly larger, but most of the weight gain came from major improvements in NVH, interior quality, and standard/available features. 113hp should be ok, but I sure would like to see the 2.0L as an option.
…to be honest, in the current 2, one hundred horsepower is plenty to pull through traffic on the street…
It’s more of an issue with the 4-speed automatic they’re using on the current car. That will be upgraded to a nice new 6-speed unit in the new car. Should be fine for most people, but a brand that has premium aspirations should have premium engine options.
The proven 2.0 would be a great “GT” upgrade with no turbo longevity/maintenance issues or premium gas. Probably not much mileage penalty either…has anyone gotten the EPA ratings on the 1.5 yet?
At SEMA one year, Mazda did that–put a 2.0 in the 2 and called it a Mazdaspeed2. It’s parts bin engineering and seems like a no-brainer to me.
I like it. 115 hp ain’t much, but it should do OK with 2400 pounds.
Actually this will be pretty much the new Yaris in the US, quite an improvement over the current one, can’t believe the day has come that Toyota has to depend on others to help them engineer and design their cars. FR-S. this and the upcoming BMW collaboration sports car.
Mazdaspeed2 anybody? Please!?!
…seriously: it worked fantastically well for ford, i can only imagine the business case has held mazda back from doing likewise with their own chassis…
If even the Speed version only had the 2.0L, I’d buy it.
Hecho en Mexico. No me gusta.
De acuerdo. Mexican manufacture, and the shenanigans that happen after the car leaves the factory and tries to get to the border, do not make for confidence that the car is built the best that it could be… which is what you expect when it’s from a well-established Japanese company.
Building cars in a third-world company to take advantage of cheap labor results in other, unanticipated costs.
Pretty soon, the only non-Mexican assembled b-segment cars available will be the Mirage (Thailand) and Sonic (USA). Hyundai/Kia is already building a new plant in Mexico to crank out small cars, and it’s unlikely Toyota keeps building an American spec Yaris in Japan, if at all. Everything else is already being assembled in Mexico.
This one one reason I purchased my 2014 Mazda2. Manufactured in Japan (with 97% made in Japan parts). The quality is outstanding.
The Yaris comes from France these past couple of years.
RHD – you got that right. Language barriers are just the beginning too. That cheaper labor comes at a very high price in the end.
And by the way, God that’s a hideous little lump of a car. Something else I’d be embarrassed to be seen in. The same design language doesn’t translate well to all sizes, especially in this case to extra small. The current 2 is a miserable piece of crap to drive, it makes you want to pull over about every 20 miles and start capping .45 rounds through the grill, I bet this one drives even worse. It’s not going to be a Miata with a hatch.
Looks are subjective. I like the current M2 and think this new one looks even better. I own both an ’11 Mazda2 and an ’07 Fit, and IMO the M2 driving experience is superior. It’s a blast to drive around town and is much more refined, in many ways, than the Fit. It’s simply got a quality feel to it.
My Fit feels like a cheap crap can compared to the M2 and the M2 has triple the mileage at 65k. Anytime I have a choice, I take the M2 (hence the mileage difference). I’ve owned many sports cars, Corvettes, 911, 928, Z4, Miata, etc, so I know what a good handling car is, and the M2 is plain fun to drive.
I compare it to my former Miata most frequently, lightweight, peppy, handles well, stops well, easy to park. Not sure what you’re used to driving or why you had such a poor experience, but many reviewers DO compare it to a Miata.
Again, Mazda puts so much work in styling the front end, and forgets to style the greenhouse. The super-simple arch shape doesn’t match the rest of the car on any of their models. Also see: Mazda 3/6. That dark(ish) gray plastic triangle looks faded on the show floor, it hasn’t even seen the sun yet. Why don’t they make it a darker color?
Looking more closely at the dark pictures, the greenhouse is a little more nuanced than on the bigger cars, and does fit better than that of the 3/6. Having said that, it does them no favors having an image of the 20″ rim shod concept right above it :)
Still haven’t been able to match the tugboat in innovation or sales. Best GLC to date from Mazda, lasted for donkeys years even if the fuel pump was pricey. Accent’s more proof the Koreans can match the Japs.
That interior is better than anything I’ve seen in a Mazda in a long time, at least in these little screenshots.