The third generation Mazda3 sees the company breaking free from Ford platforms and powertrains, instead using its own architecture and engines. Glenn Brooks gets the measure of the new range ahead of the UK market launch in January.
The press relations team at Mazda UK is braver than most, having months ago commissioned an agency to organise the launch of a vital new model in the very top of the Scottish mainland. In December. Happily, the scenery was breathtaking rather than a white-out, the roads were in great repair and relatively empty of other drivers, and best of all there was none of this nonsense of defaulting to Heathrow to get there. Prop aircraft out of Bristol and into Wick, via a stop to collect other writers at Leeds-Bradford.
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Playing safe would have seen the press preview conducted in Spain or southern France but Mazda, perhaps keen to show off its independent thinking, chose somewhere we don’t go often enough in this game. The A9 is one of my favourite European roads and it will show up a hurriedly-engineered car but the Mazda3 has definitely had lots of chassis tuning on byways such as this one. Handling is much improved, the architecture is the company’s own and shared with the CX-5 and Mazda6, which means that yet more ties with Ford Motor Company have been severed – the first two generations shared platforms with the Focus.
Aside from the new architecture and a resultant average weight loss of 90kg, the main engineering news is the arrival of the so-called Skyactiv 1.5-litre petrol engine. Thankfully, there was no mention of ‘Zoom Zoom’ on the event, but a lot of shouty (the firm’s house style is ‘SKYACTIV’) stuff about what is a low emissions, fuel-sipping, light weight, eco aware philosophy. It isn’t as strange as Mitsubishi Motors’ @ Earth or Honda’s Earth Dreams (low emissions engines) and when marketing types within the company’s Hiroshima HQ say it to one another it undoubtedly makes instant sense. Customers in some markets will get it, while others might be better off falling for the styling of the car, which is easy to do. So perhaps forget about SKYACTIV-G (petrol engines), SKYACTIV-D (diesel), SKYACTIV-DRIVE (gearboxes), SKYACTIV-BODY or SKYACTIV-CHASSIS and just know that Mazda continues to be a leader in the fields of lighter, more fuel efficient cars.
This modestly sized company might be doing well, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the buzzwords are needed if Mazda is to reach the people it is seeking to. After all, the Subaru Impreza, Chevrolet Cruze and sad to say even the Toyota Auris, all good cars, are unfairly overlooked by most C segment buyers in the UK and other EU markets. So without all the capitals, I’m going to indulge the attempt to create a strongpoint over what could otherwise might be seen by some as an inherent weaknesses in one of its engines.
Weakness? Well, the emphasis is on the petrol engine and it’s true that the new 100PS 1.5 is smooth, silent and admirably low on CO2 emissions, returning 119g/km which would be close to a class best were it not for the Ford Focus 125PS emitting just 114g/km. Average fuel consumption for the Mazda is 55.4mpg. The potential weak spot is the size of the only diesel engine. Like the Honda unit that is now being phased out due to slow sales of the vehicles it was fitted to, it’s a 2.2. Power output is 150PS and torque is a mighty 380Nm. The CO2 number is as low as 107g/km, rising to 127 if you specify the automatic option and official consumption ranges between 58 and 78mpg. So the numbers are perfect but the challenge is to make people understand that Skyactiv-D = cheap to own rather than “a 2.2 is too big for me”. It might seem odd to readers outside the EU, but that’s how so many people now think in many member states.
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By GlobalDataSkyactiv isn’t just a marketing term; there really is engineering integrity behind it. Mazda has clearly seen the success that Ford has enjoyed in some countries with EcoBoost, a snappy way to say ‘direct injection turbocharged petrol’. One of the things which really sets Skyactiv apart is the high compression ratios of both petrol and diesel units. The new 1.5 generates 100PS as well as 150Nm of torque and this engine will be sold mostly in Europe. It isn’t for example available in North America’s 2014 Mazda3, nor is the diesel (yet). There, the base unit is a 2.0-litre petrol. In European markets, this one is offered in either 120 (and 210Nm) or 165PS (and 210Nm) forms. In the US, the 2.0-litre instead produces 155hp, while there is another four-cylinder, a 184hp 2.5.
Cars for the European region are manufactured in Japan and there the new model retains the traditional model name of Axela. A special 2.0-litre petrol-electric sedan is sold in the home market, with this, the Axela Hybrid having had its public debut at last month’s Tokyo motor show. Mazda stated as long ago as March 2010 that it would be licensing Toyota’s hybrid technology “by 2013” for a new, Japan-built model, and this is also its first hybrid production car. A Skyactiv CNG engine was another world premiere at Tokyo but the company is yet to state further details about that technology or the countries in which it will be available.
The powertrain line-up is a major part of the new Mazda3 story but there is much else to note. The interior is a big step up over the second generation car thanks to higher quality materials, ‘satin chrome’ trim, ebony-effect (‘piano black’) accents and more comfortable seats which can be upholstered in cloth, leatherette or leather. A new infotainment system with Bluetooth/USB/AUX connectivity as well as the ability to access the internet via a smartphone also features. A so-called ‘Active Driving Display’ shows important driving information, such as navigation directions, on a clear panel behind the instrument cluster surround and it worked well on the media drive.
Other technologies that keep the new model either up to date with or set it apart from the class leaders consists of a variety of safety systems including High Beam Control, Blind Spot Monitoring, Forward Obstruction Warning, Smart City Brake Support and Radar Cruise Control. The new car also has the company’s i-ELOOP brake energy regeneration system, as previously fitted to the Mazda6 and CX-5 models. This employs a capacitor rather than what would be a heavy battery to store electricity generated when the vehicle decelerates.
On the production side of things, the Axela/Mazda3 is manufactured at Hofu 1, Hofu 2 and Ujina 2 in Japan, while the Nanjing and Chung Li plants in China and Taiwan respectively should switch over to the third generation model during 2014. The big news is of course the imminent opening of the Salamanca factory in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. The 3 will be the first car to be made there, with the as yet unseen next generation 2 to be added later in 2014 and then a variant of that B segment model for Toyota Motor Sales USA. The last of these is likely to be the effective replacement for the Yaris in the US market, from mid-2015. Salamanca will also have a powertrain plant, with up to 230,000 Skyactiv engines to be produced there per year commencing in October 2014.
Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai stated at the car’s unveiling in Japan that the company would aim to sell around 500,000 units of the Mazda3/Axela globally, setting the highest target yet for what has become its best-selling model since the first one was launched back in 2003. Underlining the importance of Salamanca, the US is expected to take around 30% of that total. And Europe? Well it’s obviously a more modest story here but you might be surprised to learn that sales of the brand’s models were up by 40% year on year in November and 18% for the year to date (market share: now 1.2%).
Mazda Motor Europe expects to sell 43,500 units of the new car in 2014, of which 8,500 would be in the UK. Given how well it drives, and the way the brand’s image and presence on our roads keep on rising, that seems easily believable.
