Forget Easter Eggs... Here's the new 3

Mazda Australia confirmed this week that the new 3 will be on-sale by April after originally being scheduled for June.

The soon-to-be superseded model topped the sales chart in January, meaning the company has sold out of its stock earlier than anticipated. The strong sales also helped secure the early shipment of new models.

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The Neo, Maxx and Maxx Sport will come standard with the MZR 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 108kW while the SP25 will be equipped with the MZR 2.5-litre petrol four. An updated version of the 2.2-litre turbodiesel will also be available.

Mazda's six-speed manual gearbox will be standard across the range with a five-speed Activematic optional on the petrol models.

Despite the sales slowdown Mazda is confident that the new car will maintain its strong record, citing the recent success of the outgoing five-year old model.

"It just proves the market is still there if you have the right car," says National Marketing Manager, Alastair Doak.

Doak says the Mazda3 will appeal to a wide range of customers but admits there is a key demographic the company will target.

"Within that we'll target a particular group that we think Mazda3 will appeal to. If we get them on-board we should guarantee sales success," he says.