What is it?
2011 Mazda 2
What's special about it?
When Scion and Mini made small cars respectable in the U.S. market, plenty of manufacturers put plans in motion to bring small, practical, fuel-efficient and affordable cars to America. Originally launched in 2007 to great success in Europe, Japan and Australia, the Mazda 2 has been an obvious candidate. Mazda North America has been reluctant to commit for fear of undercutting the booming success of its Mazda 3, but now the Mazda 2's time has arrived.
Mazda does much of the small-car engineering for Ford, so it's no surprise that the Mazda 2 (known as the Demio in Japan) resembles the Ford Fiesta under the skin. The stoutly engineered five-door hatchback meets Europe's highest crash standards and features MacPherson strut front suspension and a straightforward torsion-beam rear axle. For the U.S., the Mazda 2 will be powered by a 1.5-liter inline-4 that will be backed up by a five-speed manual transmission and a four-speed automatic.
As is customary with Mazda, a high level of standard equipment, style and driving dynamics have been emphasized. The faintly wedge-shape body has an energetic forward thrust, while Mazda refers to the MX-5 Miata for the car's combination of ride and handling.
The 2011 Mazda 2 is expected to go on sale in the summer of 2010.
Inside Line says: The Mazda 2 wants to drive better than the Ford Fiesta and be cooler than the Honda Fit. We'll see. — Michael Jordan, Executive Editor
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