Of course they do. There is nothing else to do — other than cow tipping that is.

I can’t wait to check one of these out, as a hatchback with a manual transmission. The pictures I saw of the 5-door hatch actually look pretty good. I just can’t see it as a sedan at all given it’s short length. I see that it will likely be offered with a 100 hp, 100 ft-lb torque engine in the US. If stories of weight reduction (I’ll wait and see) and sporty handling (likely, since it’s a Mazda) are true, this could be one fun, economical car.

P.S. Maybe Mazda gets it as a car manufacturer. They are doing the same thing here that they did with the Miata-hunting for and finding ways to reduce the weight of the car. It would be nice if some of their engineering rubbed off on Ford.

I say we change the driving test so that all new drivers must learn to drive a stick first and foremost. Give those hands something to do so they can’t use a phone! Muwahahahahahaha…

Aw, wishful thinking…

I like being able to put tall objects in my car, and when my back seats are folded down, it’s amazing how much I can fit in my little xA. Also, with hatchbacks, rear passengers don’t have to lay down to keep from bopping their head on the rear glass. The seats are more upright.

Oh, that’s right. We live in the land of the fashionable. If Moms drive it, then it can’t be cool. That’s why everyone drives trucks and SUVs ;-)

My daily commute is 56 miles round trip, and I’m tired of piling mileage on my poor Miata – I’d rather save that car for weekend romps.

My wife travels a few times a month, and when picking her up at the airport, I need a larger cargo area than the Miata has for luggage. With regular gas this morning at $3.45/gallon and climbing, I’d rather not drive the Grand Cherokee every time I need to carry home more than groceries.

I’d buy one of these in a New York minute.

What, people don’t break into sedans where you live?

Think breaking and entering. They do that in Boston, don’t they.

The 80’s Civic’s looked nice as a sedan, but the modern ones aren’t really a sedan at all. More like a fastback design.

The auto decision makers need to give up on rules that they learned the wrong way. It wasn’t that hatches were not liked in the US, it’s that ugly cheap little cars that don’t imitate their larger stable mates won’t sell. If you make a good little car, it will sell as an attractive hatch. If you make a crap little car, you can’t sell the hatch to people who want the larger car but might settle for the smaller one next to it.

I love the look of this thing personally but I’m quite partial to hatchbacks over sedans.

serpico’s got the right idea. Bring on the hot hatch wars again!

The European press gave it rave reviews.

Mazda basically went weight hunting, therefore going against the grain, and came out with a light, fun, economical car with just as much safety and interior space as its competitors.

My requirements for a car like that:

1) Reasonable acceleration to merge and pass.
2) Good handling(I’m sure it will handle, since it’s a Mazda.
3) Reasonable reliability.
4) Good interior space utilization.
5) Competitively priced.

Meet the above requirements, and in the era of $4/gal gas, I’d grab one in a heartbeat.

Mazda needs this over here since all they can give us is the 4 door Mazda3. Their Mazda3 sport wagon was popular until prices went up and now I see less of them. There are some Mini’s around, but they cost more. We really need affordable hatcbacks like we had back in the 80’s and 90’s.

There’s no denying Americans’ sedan preference generally, but it makes no sense in a car of this size. It’s just too much compromise for the sake of style in a class of vehicles where you’re already giving up a lot (compared to, say, buying a used Civic) and you’re not exactly impressing anybody anyway. I don’t get it.