New Mazda3 here next year

Mazda will reveal the replacement for Australia’s most popular car at the 2013 Tokyo motor show on November 20, but has confirmed it won’t go on sale here until next year.

Leaked images of the redesigned Mazda3 surfaced in the UK last October, revealing a striking new ‘Kodo’ exterior design for both sedan and hatchback versions of the top-selling Japanese small car.

As we reported from last September’s Paris motor show, the successor for Mazda’s four-year-old global best-seller will be fast-tracked into production this year, and will also form the basis of the company’s first hybrid model.

A month later motoring.com.au also reported exclusively that the new Mazda3 will be produced in petrol-electric form with a range-extending rotary engine, but the ground-breaking new plug-in hybrid Mazda3 will initially be available only for lease in Japan.

Mazda Australia National Marketing Manager Alastair Doak confirmed to motoring.com.au at this week’s launch of the 2.5-litre CX-5 that the new Mazda3 will not arrive in local Mazda dealerships in 2012 as expected, but would not rule out an early 2014 introduction following its Tokyo world debut.

“The new Mazda3 will not arrive here this year,” he said.

The news means Mazda will have a relatively quiet year in terms of new model launches in 2013, following a year in which it released the all-new CX-5 (last February), facelifted MX-5 (October), facelifted CX-9 and redesigned Mazda6 (both December).

Mazda has committed to releasing eight new SKYACTIV-based models by 2016 and following the next-generation Mazda3 early next year will be the redesigned Mazda2, followed by a redesigned MX-5 in 2014, leaving the BT-50 ute as the only non-SKYACTIV model in Mazda’s range.

While the existing 3 was the first Mazda model to be powered by a new-generation SKYACTIV engine, it will be the third all-SKY model after the all-new CX-5 and new Mazda6 to incorporate the full gamut of SKYACTIV engine, chassis and body technologies.

If the CX-5 and Mazda6 are any guide, the next Mazda3 will shed up to 100kg of kerb weight and the new SKYACTIV-G 2.0-litre petrol engine introduced in the Mazda3 SP20 and entry-level CX-5 last year will become standard across the range.

The same 2.5-litre SKYACTIV-G petrol four that powers the Mazda6 and now CX-5 should power the next-generation Mazda3 SP25, while a smaller (potentially 1.6-litre) SKYACTIV-D turbo-diesel engine is expected to replace the current Mazda3 Diesel’s 2.2-litre unit.

Combined with upgraded six-speed manual and automatic SKYACTIV-Drive transmissions, the new Mazda3 should bring average fuel consumption savings of up to 30 per cent.

Launched here in April 2009, the existing Mazda3 was Australia’s top-selling vehicle bar none for the second consecutive year in 2012 and also topped the sales charts in January -despite the recent release of a new Toyota Corolla hatch, Hyundai i30 hatch and Nissan Pulsar sedan.