Japan Gets New Mazda3 Mazda Axela. You Get The Pictures

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: September 27th, 2011

japan gets new strike mazda3 strike mazda axela you get the pictures

Japanese customers can now buy the facelifted Mazda3 with its fuel-efficient SkyActiv technology. Except that it’s called Axela in Japan and has the steering wheel on the wrong side. Pretty much everything that needs to be said about the car already has been. If you missed it, here is the English version of the Japanese press kit. (Now how is that for service?) Mother of all Mazda3 picture collections follows.

#Axela #BertelSchmitt #Japan #Mazda #Mazda3 #SKYACTIV

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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6 of 22 comments

Bertel Schmitt on Sep 27, 2011

I heard it's already here, but maybe I was wrong.

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- Jtk on Sep 27, 2011
  
  As far as I can tell from the Mazda USA site, the 2012 3 is selling now, but they do not list the SkyActiv engines, only the 2.0 and 2.5 they had previously. I'm anxiously awaiting SkyActiv news because I'm looking to replace my current car with a 3 pretty soon...
  
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- Redav on Sep 27, 2011
  
  The '12 is on sale--I've seen dealerships with them. However, I have not seen a SkyActiv yet, so I don't think it has made it here yet. Most reports say it will debut in Oct, but that may be optimistic. It seems reasonable that Mazda is keeping most in Japan at first, and then they will start trickling in over here--so give it a couple months and they should become more available. The SkyActiv in the '12 Mazda3 will be a watered-down version. It doesn't have the room for the 4-2-1 exaust, so it will only have a 12:1 compression ratio instead of 13:1 (rest of the world will have 14:1). I don't think the frame/chasis changes will be in this Mazda3, either. The first FULL SkyActiv will be the CX-5 scheduled to be released "early 2012" (probably Mar/Apr). The CX-5 specs will be revealed at the LA Auto Show in Nov. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtc2EofaRJI This is a video of various styles for a Mazda3 using the Kodo design language. There's no telling when it will be done, but I'm hoping for '14 model year.
  
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Elusivellama on Sep 27, 2011

Official Canadian info is already out for the 2.0 SkyActiv. Here: http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?54973-Official-2012-Mazda3-Specs-amp-Features-and-Pricing I see this as more of a gradual intro of SkyActiv tech, with everything becoming available in the next model year when the Kodo design language is used. I really want to see the 3rd gen MS3 though.

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- Michael Karesh on Sep 27, 2011
  
  Note the "TBA" for the SkyActiv models. It looks like SkyActiv will be a 2012.5.
  
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- Elusivellama on Sep 28, 2011
  
  @Michael Karesh TBA for pricing only, right?
  
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