Mazda2: Even Pray to Heaven Above…
Those of us who lust after automotive products from afar are already pining for the Ford Mondeo and S-Max, Buick Park Avenue (China), Alfa Romeo 159 and Fiat 500. Mazda joins America's automotive unrequited love list with the new Mazda2. Mazda's subcompact car (B-segment, if that's your language) sells below the grand slam home run Mazda3. The Zoom-Zoomers are introducing an America-friendly variant to the Chinese market. Where most subcompact sedans look stubby, waving their metaphorical ass in the air, this is one sharp-looking wee beastie. It's also, purportedly, fun to drive. Fantastic mileage is a given. Subcompacts (which are actually compact size but who's counting) are making a comeback stateside: Nissan Versa, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Chevy Aveo, Suzuki SX4. Mazda's entry would be a perfect fit for the U.S., and it snaps into Mazda's brand portfolio very well. But the daunting prospects of U.S. crash tests and limited profitability assures American pistonheads more long distance love.
Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.
More by Justin Berkowitz
Comments
Join the conversation
It's interesting. Today I thought about the fact that the Corollas, Civics and Jettas of today are rapidly becoming the equivalent of midsized cars to the under 40 crowd. This is due in part to gas prices (obviously), but perhaps it's also due to the fact that these models provide similar quality with far less bulk in particular. I sincerely believe that the Corolla and Civic will be eating a lot of marketshare from their bigger brethern. Especially since the Accord and Camry are becoming nearly as big as the Cadillacs and Oldmobiles of recent times past. The sportier compacts and subcompacts are more or less eating the lunches of what used to be the sports coupe segment. There is no longer a sane reason to buy a classically proportioned GT model like the Mitsubishi Eclipse. You can get plenty of speed, far better driving ergonomics, more room, better material quality and better mileage with a Mazdaspeed or GTI. If the dealers and unions didn't make it so hard, Ford would have probably just dumped the Focus a couple years ago and sold the 3 and 6 series wherever there was a mass of pavement and a blue oval on top of it. Cars like the 3, 5, MX-5 and 6, combined with Ford's Fusion and 500/Taurus would make a helluva line-up for a dealer to market. Unfortunately, we have an automotive world that's designed to screw the consumer. So nevermind.
US crash regs aren't tougher than Europe's, they're just different. A car designed to meet one won't necessarily meet the other without major structural changes.