Take two for Mazda2

A facelift for the widely praised Mazda2 was on the cards from as long ago as the Paris Motor Show last year.

But no one foresaw that with the facelifted car Mazda would switch its supply from the Auto Alliance Thailand plant to the company's plant in Hiroshima for Australian-delivered cars -- less than a year after the company formally commenced taking sourcing the Mazda2 from AAT.

The Mazda2 has been successful right throughout the South East Asian region serviced by AAT, says Mazda Australia MD Doug Dickson. Supply for all markets, not just Australia, is increasingly constrained.

"With the increasing demand for Mazda2, securing supply was extremely important. Now that production of Australian-bound Mazda2s has moved back to Hiroshima we can be sure of fulfilling customer demand and maintaining momentum in the light car segment."

With the Australian dollar maintaining its strength against the Yen, the disparity in currency exchange rates is not the problem for Mazda in Australia that it poses in other markets supplied by AAT. But it means the end for the Mazda2 sedan in Australia, the booted '2' being built in the AAT plant only.

Mazda doesn't plan to bring back the sedan, according to the company's Public Relations Manager Steve Maciver.

"The change in production is essentially us moving back to Hiroshima for Mazda2," he told the Carsales Network earlier today. "There's no plan to change that again. It also means there are no plans for that sedan to be produced out of the Hiroshima plant for Australia.

"Moving forward, the five-door hatch will be the proposition for Mazda2."

If not for the unlooked for demand from SE-Asian countries, Maciver explained, Mazda Australia would have continued to source the '2' from AAT -- including the sedan, he stressed. Maciver explained that while the sedan had not met sales targets, that was not fundamental to the decision to drop the three-box model.

"Don't read too much into the fact that it's a sales issue, because that's certainly not the case. In terms of how we did the sales, Mazda2 sedan was making just over 10 per cent of the overall sales mix of Mazda2. I think when we launched the car we predicted it was probably going to be slightly higher -- around about the 20 per cent mark.

"What I will say is that if we had kept the Mazda2 being produced out of the plant in Thailand, sedan would have remained on the agenda..."

Was the sedan the wrong fit for the Mazda2 range, given the company's brand perception?

"It's probably fair to say that in terms of Mazda2 in the light segment, hatch is always where we've been at. Yeah, we have had the 121 bubble sedan way back, but it's not necessarily a body style which people may associate with Mazda2.

"It's definitely a personal preference whether you choose a sedan or a hatch, but... an overwhelming number of customers for Mazda2 have generally told us that the hatch is what they prefer.

"Mazda2 did have a very good year last year and... off those good sales figures, 10 per cent was sedan. It was certainly a smaller percentage than perhaps what we predicted, but we still sold a good number of sedans."

Starting with the entry-level Mazda2 Neo, the facelift comprises a new design of 15-inch steel wheel, body-colour door handles, revised seat trim and piano black decorative trim. Two new colours are added to the palette: Aquatic Blue and Burgundy Red.

In the mid-range, the Mazda2 Maxx also gains revised seat trim and the Neo's piano black highlights. The new colours specified for the Neo are also available with the Maxx variants.

For the moment, the facelift hasn't carried through for the flagship Mazda2 Genki, which will be released in upgraded form around the middle of the year. At that time it will introduce additional equipment also.

Mechanically the Mazda2 is unchanged.

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