New Mazda 2 Revealed

The Mazda 2 enjoyed success in the B-segment. It even has a World Car of The Year title under the belt on its petite waistline  - and for good reason. It's fun to drive, well-built and now many years into its life-cycle, is overlooked by local car buyers. The automaker hopes to reclaim their success in this ambit with the new model, which was revealed today.

Production began at their Hofu plant south-east of Hiroshima. It boasts Mazda's SKYACTIV technologies; which essentially means emphasis on driving fun without sacrificing economy and environmental-friendliness. And on the styling front, it features their KODO philosophy: something they describe as "The Soul of Motion design that is bursting with energy".

Cutting through the marketing verbiage, there's no denying that the new 2 looks sharp. It's crisp, fresh and interesting to look at, just as its predecessor was when it arrived on the scene. When it makes its debut in Europe, it will be powered by an all-new 1.5-litre diesel engine, in addition to variations of their familiar 1.5-litre petrol engine.

Inside, the Mazda seems to have taken a chapter from the Audi Textbook of Interior Design. It looks a great deal like the current A3. Which isn't really a bad thing. And Mazda claims that refinement has been made a great priority.

More than 2.4 million examples of the compact Mazda have been sold since it was launched in 1996. Just in case you were confused by the vanity plate in the pictures, the Mazda 2 is also known as the Demio in some markets.