Mazda2 sedan, Mazda3 diesel to join the range next year

By Matt Brogan | November 18th, 2009

Mazda has confirmed that it will bring the Mazda2 sedan to Australia by mid-2010 when production of the vehicle begins in Thailand.

The Mazda2 sedan sits on the same 2490mm wheelbase as its hatchback sibling and will be powered by the existing 76kW 1.5-litre petrol engine.

Mazda Australia managing director, Doug Dickson, said he was excited about expanding the light car’s range, given that the hatch alone this year has sold 11,000 units and enjoys an 11 per cent share of its segment.

“We are delighted to be able to offer Australians the all-new Mazda2 sedan and moving to Thailand production enables us to do this.”

50,000 Mazda2s will be produced at the recently opened multi-million dollar Auto Alliance Thailand passenger car plant, and the shift may bring with it a sharper price tag.

Mazda also announced that the new Mazda3 Diesel has joined the line-up with the title of the Japanese brand’s most frugal small car in their history.

Burning just 5.7 litres/100km combined, the MZR-CD is the same 2.2-litre engine as used in the Mazda6 but is specially tuned to produce 110kW and 360Nm of torque in the small car.

The main fuel savings are achieved through improvements to the variable geometry turbocharger, fuel pump and piston design while a diesel particulate filter helps the new Mazda3 meet strict emissions regulations.

The $29,715* Diesel come with six airbags and dynamic stability control as standard, as well as Bluetooth, satellite navigation and an in-dash six-disc CD player.

Available as both hatch and sedan, Mazda expects to sell 100 Diesels a month, or around five per cent of the model mix.

*Pricing is a guide as recommended to us by the manufacturer.

by Tim Beissmann & Adam Marshall

Mitch

I think you mean specially detuned, according to the Mazda site the 6 makes

Max power
136 kW @ 3,500 rpm
Max torque
400Nm @ 1,800-3,000 rpm

So the engine has 26kw and 40nm less with a .2 per litre fuel savings, which is probably related to the weight of the car not tuned for economy.

Philthy

Hopefully someone releases a software flash to get those kw’s and Nm back… sounds like Mazda is leaving the engineering up to the marketing department
Mazdaman

other sites are reporting that the new 3 diesel has a smaller turbo than the 6, hence why the lower power levels

still need autos Mazda!

Falcodore

Autos are coming…2011 i think.

As you know, Mazda will do it properly, testing durability and reliability before they bring it to market.

milobob

The Sedan 2 looks like a 2 at the front and a mazda 3 at the back!
Toyota Guru

Let me guess Mazda… no auto or DSG-type gearbox for the diesel 3? Pffftttt…

And why detune it? That’s just pure madness.
AB

I think the 2 sedan looks a bit like a Renault from the rear

AB

Actually make that a SEAT

Car fanatic

No your were closer the first time, SEAT’s only sedan is the Exeo and it has distinctively different tail lights, a lip on the boot lid and a lower lip on the rear bumper.

http://carz.com/ Carz

These cars looks great. I’m wondering myself why they detuned it…hopefully it won’t have lots of effect on the car.
JEKYL & HYDE

so mazda follows honda and nissan to thailand.the end of “jap made” is upon us.when the “rolla” follows suit,it will be thai or korea,take your pick…

Safety Frist

Go the Thai ones, they’re really good, and if you get a green one thay can be really hot………. (poor attempt at humour I know :p)
Devil’s Advocate

The Jap made “rolla” at one stage left us a while ago Jekyl with the previous model. Most of the “rollas” we got in the last model were made in South Africa. The Sportivo version with the Yamaha engine was one of the only Jap made models we got. However I think the current version has switched back to Japan.

Yonny

Not disputing what you say, but I didn’t know the Sportivo’s motor was from Yamaha. I thought it was an in-house Toyota motor.

Myke

This and the BT-50 IIRC, are the only two Mazda vehicles built in Thailand, the rest are still made in Japan. Given the Japanese built Mazdas are very well priced, I doubt they will make the switch to Thailand.

Safety Frist

Not picking on anyone, but don’t be so quick to diss the Thai built cars… These Mazdas and the Ford Fiesta & Focus are comming out of brand new complexes. Built with the latest in robotics and production facilities. I haven’t heard anyone whinge about the build quality on Honda’s, Hilux’s, Navara’s, Triton’s, etc. I can assure you that the build quality on the Escapes and the Tributes that came out of there is up to a very good standard. The Thai’s have a very good work ethic and seem to have pride in what they put out…. not like the South African workers who struggle to turn up each shift… or the Koreans who are becoming more westernised with their unions and such….

Yonny

I’d have to agree. I have a Thai-built Jazz and it has very good build quality (though not perfect – but I put that down to a drop in the quality of components used in the new Jazz as compared to the old model).

I’d buy any Thai-built car without any hesitation. Can’t say the same about cars built in South Africa. For whatever reason, they just don’t build cars very well there. Every manufacturer that has built cars there has suffered a drop in build quality that they have struggled to get on top of. Having suffered 2 SA-built Focuses (one of which looked like it had been built by monkeys flinging bits together, then spray-painted in the middle of dusty field on a windy day) I will never buy another car built there

Martin

The 2 Sedan looks horrible from the back, the boot lid itself looks way too tall and the lights look like deformed Skoda Superb lights. To add also, like most Mazda’s the rear bumper sticks out too far.
Yanzo

2 sedan looks good

Steve-Poyza

Agreed. Sedan versions of hatchbacks usually look out of proportion, usually too narrow and tall, but this 2 sedan looks good.

Baddass

On the contrary, I think the rising beltline looks fine on the 2 and Fiesta hatches, but look waaaay out of proportion on the sedans. I don’t think this car is necessary for our market.

Juiced

I own a 2008 Mazda 3 Diesel and trust me 360 Nm is more than enough for this size car. There would be too much torque steer on 400 Nm.

bob

Just read a review of the UK Mazda3 Sport Diesel (essentially an SP25 with the 400Nm engine)

The article never mentioned torque steer. Just said that it was a great handler, more than a match for the Golf GTD. Though a little behind the Focus in handling stakes.

Also found a UK based chip that moves the lower spec 2.2 up to 415Nm. I think it uses a different turbo because they also offer a chip to move the 400Nm engine to 450Nm.

p.s. Mazda’s next Gen 2.2D is twin turbo.

spellbound

Good move on the 3 diesel , makes sense on the power front , golf is similar a bit less at 103kw .

They can always do a power option , but economy is the prime reason for this engine .

Most impressed by the 3 its a good drive .
davie

I wonder if they detuned it so that they could offer a diesel MPS later with 400 NM of torque

Mazda3 MPS-D?

Whitbomb07

Or maybe that’s the whole reason why it is detuned. Wouldn’t want to have a diesel punching out more torque than the MPS.

Either that or Mazda couldn’t be bothered to improve the rest of the car to handle the output…….

It’s a joke that with this detuning and the fact it’s smaller, lighter, and probably (I’m not sure on this one) has a lower drag coefficient that fuel usage is only 0.2l/100km less than the 6.

Bad move by Mazda I think, and they’ll wonder why they won’t sell any, then blame it on it being a diesel and scrap it.

http://indonesia-cars.com Amel

Mazda2 Sedan? Wooww….I think this car will enter to our national auto market in year 2010 or 2011. Because of the Mazda2 hatchback will release next week, can not wait longer. I just read in http://indonesia-cars.com/1208/mazda2-ready-to-launch-on-25th-november/
http://OzMPSclub.com OzMPSclub

Well done Mazda for getting the 3 diesel out….

but I own a 2008 Mazda 2 Genki and my opinion the 2 sedan is awful as I’m a hatch lover

Mazda bring out a MPS2….

Falcodore

An MPS2 sedan would complement the MPS3 hatch but in both forms of the 2 and 3 should be done IMO. Afterall MPS stands for Mazda Performance Series. Its not much of a series with only one car is it?

Jake02

Instead of a 3 MPS-D, why not have an SD22 (diesel SP25)? Give it SP kit levels and the full 136kW engine (like the top-spec Euro model) and I’d buy one! It’d be fantastic! The 3 (in my opinion) is the only case where the sedan looks better than the hatch. It’s great!

I also love the Mazda2, but I’d have the new Fiesta because I drive a manual and as you all know the manual comes with the 1.6 whereas the auto comes with the 1.4…and Ford shouldn’t charge $ for tha teither!