New Mazda3 sedan now on sale

Having notched up more than 10,000 sales and a 20 per cent share of its segment, so far this year the Mazda3 is Australia’s top-selling small car and the third most popular new vehicle overall – titles it last held annually in 2012.

But the Mazda3 won’t dominate the nation’s third largest sales segment for long, despite the launch of the fourth-generation Mazda3 hatchback last month and the all-new Mazda3 sedan this week.

That’s because the sedan version mirrors the all-new Mazda3 hatchback’s higher pricing structure (including a $4500 higher starting price of $24,990 plus on-road costs), which Mazda has already forecast will lead to a sales slide of up to a third, with a “conservative” 2019 target of 20,000 sales this year – down from 31,000 in 2018.

The Mazda3’s 2019 sales spike is due to run-out sales of the superseded model, which accounted for more than 80 per cent of Mazda3 sales in April, when the new hatch was launched and accounted for only 423 deliveries.

With sales of the new Mazda3 sedan starting this week, Mazda says it won’t have a clear picture of new Mazda3 sales until June – the first full sales month for both the new hatch and sedan, sales of which are forecast to be split 60/40 per cent.

But once again it has cautioned that Mazda3 sales will decline due to higher prices and its focus not on fleet or business customers but on private buyers, who are increasingly demanding better specified family cars.

“A 20 per cent share [of the small-car segment] is not what we’re targeting,” Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi told carsales.com.au.

“We think we will average about 2000 sales a month; what that equates to in terms of share will be consequential. Small car sales leadership is not in our planning. Our target is private buyers.”

The local Mazda chief said he expects the small-car segment, the overall market and Mazda sales to decline again in 2019, when the Mazda3 could “potentially” be overtaken by the CX-5 as Mazda’s top-seller.

“The [small car] segment will continue to decline, but we’ll get a good share of private buyers from it, so there will be a bit of a redistribution,” said Bhindi.

“We’re still targeting 100,000-plus sales [down from 111,280] and a market of around 1.1 million sales [down from 1.153m]. This year it’s likely that medium SUV sales will overtake small car sales, but small car will still be a significant segment.

“Mazda has invested heavily in the 3 and will continue to invest. It’s still a core product for us.”

This week’s new sedan will be joined a new SKYACTIV-X compression-ignition petrol engine, to be positioned at the top of the Mazda3 range at the end of this year, and – later -- a born-again Mazda3 hot hatch.

For now, the new Mazda3 sedan carries over the same 2.0- and 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engines and the same upmarket pricing and equipment levels – including about $4000 of claimed extra value across the range – as the hatch, making its boot and exterior design the big news for buyers.

“This time round our sedan and hatch offerings are a bit different,” said Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak.

“The Mazda3 hatch is now more of a design statement with a focus on sportiness – not a traditional hatch that offers something for everyone, because buyers after practicality have moved towards SUVs.

“The sedan brings another level of practicality and rear legroom,” said Doak, who added that circa-$20,000 buyers – who previously comprised just 10 per cent of Mazda3 customers -- could now choose the Mazda2 hatch, CX-3 small SUV or the all-new CX-30 crossover due here next year.

Like the new Mazda3 hatch, the sedan is based on the company’s latest SKYACTIV II platform and priced from $24,990 for the respective G20 Pure manual variants, which together with the mid-range Evolve is expected to account for 60 per cent of sales.

At 444 litres, the boot of the Mazda3 sedan is 36 litres larger than its predecessor’s and much bigger than 295-litre capacity of the Mazda3 hatch.

In every other major respect, however, the sedan and hatch are identically specified, with the exception of exterior paint and interior trim colour options.

That means a significant lift in standard equipment, led by active safety features including Smart Brake Support, Lane-Keep Assist and Forward Obstruction Warning.

There's also a $1500 option pack that comprises a 360-degree camera, adaptive headlights, adaptive cruise control with stop/go, driver fatigue monitoring, front cross-traffic alert and rear Smart Brake Support (autonomous emergency braking in reverse).

Powertrains are shared with the Mazda3 hatch and feature lightly updated internals and fuel injection for improved performance and fuel economy.

The 2.0-litre engine develops 114kW and 200Nm and can be matched to either a six-speed manual gearbox or six-speed automatic transmission. Fuel consumption is 6.3 (manual) or 6.1L/100km (auto).

Changes to the 2.5-litre engine have lifted power and torque figures to 139kW and 252Nm respectively -- up 1kW and 2Nm. Fuel economy is officially rated at 6.2 (manual) or 6.5L/100km (auto), thanks in part to cylinder deactivation tech,

Seven different colours are available for the Mazda3 sedan, including three premium colours that cost $495 extra: Soul Red Crystal, Machine Grey and Polymetal Grey. The other four colours are Snowflake White Pearl Mica, Soinci Silver Metallic, Deep Crystal Blue Mica, Jet Black Mica and Titanium Flash Mica.

Like all Mazda models, the new Mazda3 sedan is covered by a five-year/unlimited-km warranty including roadside assistance.

How much does the Mazda3 cost?
G20 Pure manual – $24,990
G20 Pure auto – $25,990
G20 Evolve manual – $26,690
G20 Evolve auto – $27,690
G20 Touring manual – $28,990
G20 Touring auto – $29,990
G25 Evolve manual – $29,490
G25 Evolve auto – $30,490
G25 GT manual – $33,490
G25 GT auto – $34,490
G25 Astina manual – $36,990
G25 Astina auto – $37,990

* Prices exclude on-road costs