2015 Mazda2 pricing and specifications revealed

Japanese brand reveals full details of its all-new city car.

Stephen Ottley

08:0028 October 2014

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2015 Mazda2 pricing and specifications revealed

Mazda almost upstaged itself with confirmation of the new CX-3 SUV coming the same day its all-new Mazda2 is officially launched in Australia.

But the new city car is big news regardless and the Japanese brand has revealed full pricing and specification details of its rival to the likes of the Toyota Yaris, Hyundai i20 and Volkswagen Polo.

The new three-tier Mazda2 line-up starts at $14,990 plus on-road costs for the Neo model with a 79kW/139Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder Skyactiv petrol engine and six-speed manual gearbox.

Next up is the Maxx model from $16,990 (plus on-roads) which gets a more powerful 81kW/141Nm version of the same 1.5-litre Skyactiv engine.

The range is topped by the $19,990 (plus on-roads) Genki which gets the same mechanical package as the Maxx but a different level of equipment.

All models are available with an optional six-speed automatic that adds $2000 to the price.

But Mazda Australia has announced a drive-away pricing offer for the indefinite future. That means the Neo will start at $16,990 for the manual, the Maxx from $18,990 and Genki from $21,990 (see below for full details).

The different engine performance is largely down to unique exhaust systems and compression ratios, which also has an impact on fuel economy.

The manual Neo uses 5.4-litres per 100km while the auto model sips a claimed 5.5L/100km. But the more powerful versions are also more efficient and use 5.2L/100km for the manual and just 4.9L/100km for the automatic.

Over the old model's engine those figures represent a 28 per cent efficiency improvement for the higher specification engine and 19 per cent for the standard engine.

Importantly both variants of the engine run on regular unleaded petrol.

The team behind the development of this new model have focused on improving the quality of the car, both in the way it drives and its level of equipment, to give it the feeling of a larger car.

Although the Neo is not available at the moment (Mazda Australia says it will follow "in a couple of weeks") it has released all of its equipment details.

Standard gear includes 15-inch steel wheels, cloth trim seats, airconditioning, Bluetooth, trip computer, keyless ignition, steering wheel mounted audio controls and a four-speaker stereo with CD player.

The Maxx builds on the Neo with 15-inch alloy wheels, cruise control and leather trim on the steering wheel, gearshift and handbrake; in addition to the different engine.

The range-topping Genki adds 16-inch alloys, front fog lamps, auto headlights, auto wipers, climate control aircon, a 7-inch infotainment touchscreen, satellite navigation, heads-up display, six-speaker stereo and internet radio integration for Pandora, Stitcher and Aha.

A notable omission on the standard equipment on all models are parking sensors and a reversing camera. Although neither are available as an option they can be fitted as a dealer accessory.

The reversing camera costs $420 to install in the Genki (and uses the screen to display the image) and is a $778 extra on the Neo and Maxx (and displays the image on a new rear-view mirror). Front parking sensors cost $599 fitted and painted and the rear sensors are an additional $399.

All models do come with six airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and hill launch assist. The new 2 hasn't been crash tested by the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) or Euro NCAP yet but Mazda is confident that, thanks to its stronger Skyactiv chassis, it will easily score a maximum five-star rating.

Available as an option on all three models is Mazda's Smart City Brake Support for an additional $400. It uses a sensor to detect any possible frontal collision between 4-30km/h and can autonomously apply the brakes to reduce the severity - or even prevent - the crash.

Another option, but only available on the Maxx is the $250 Colour Pack, that allows the owner to add high-gloss red and white trim to the interior and red cloth seats. It is a nod to the original Hazumi concept car but also gives owners the chance to give the interior a special touch, an increasingly important battleground in the city car market. However, the Colour Pack is only available on cars finished in White pearl, Aluminium metallic and Black mica paint.

There are five more colours to choose from though - Dynamic Blue mica, Smoky Rose mica, Metropolitan grey mica, Gunmetal Blue mica and Soul Red. There are no solid colours so the price of the mica and metallic paints are included in the price, with the exception of Soul Red which costs an additional $200.

The new Mazda2 Maxx and Genki models go on sale in mid November but the Neo will not be available until approximately a week later due to production scheduling at the Thai factory.