Mazda3

The Mazda3 is a 4-door Sedan (automobile) / sedan / 5-door hatchback from Mazda, built from 2003, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Hasip Girgin (2001) drew it.

The background

The Mazda3 is a compact car manufactured by Mazda since 2003 over four generations. The body styles have been a 5-door hatchback and 4-door sedan across all generations. It was sold as the Mazda Axela (Japanese: マツダ・アクセラ, Hepburn: Matsuda Akusera) in Japan until 2019. From 2013 until 2019, it was called the Mazda 3 Axela in China. The first generation was produced in Japan from June 2003 until November 2008 and replaced the Familia (also known as the 323 or Protegé) as Mazda's C-segment model. It was sold in North America for the 2004–2009 model years.

It was also produced in Colombia from 2004 until 2014, in Iran from 2006 until 2010, and in China from 2007 until 2013. The second-generation Mazda3 for the 2009 model year was unveiled in late 2008, with the sedan premiering at the Los Angeles Auto Show and the hatchback at the Bologna Motor Show. For the 2012 model year, Mazda began offering the Mazda3 with their newly developed Skyactiv technology, including a more rigid body, a new direct-injection engine, and a new 6-speed transmission. The third generation was introduced in mid-2013 for the 2014 model year. The third-generation model is the first Mazda3 to adopt the "Kodo" design language and a more complete Skyactiv range of technologies and the first to be made by Mazda independently. The fourth-generation Mazda3 for the 2019 model year was unveiled in November 2018 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. For the 2019 model, the all-new Mazda3 is equipped with the updated Skyactiv technologies, including a spark-controlled compression ignition engine marketed as the Skyactiv-X.

Under the skin

The record carries the shape — a 4-door Sedan (automobile) / sedan / 5-door hatchback. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.

Where it sits

Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Mazda 323/Mazda Familia/Mazda Protegé; assembly was at Hōfu. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bentley Continental GT, the Ford Mustang, the Volvo XC90 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Mazda stablemates include the Mazda BT-50 and the Mazda T2000.

What it costs now

EPA combined economy is 27 mpg, about $2,450 a year in fuel at the EPA's assumptions. Condition, mileage and specification move any single car a long way from a headline figure.