mazda

The new design frontier: Making small cars look stunning

For years, style was absent without an excuse from American subcompacts. But the days of slab-sided, no-frills hatchbacks may soon be history.

For decades, something was missing in the small cars designed, built and sold in the United States. It was gone for so long that most American consumers probably didn't know what it was.

But to Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group's chief designer, the missing ingredient was obvious. U.S. subcompacts lacked emotional appeal.

"Small cars of the past were not necessarily done with passion," he said.

Generations of Detroit designers seemed to say: No one buys a small car for its styling, so why bother? Uninspired, appliancelike econoboxes? What else did you expect?

American subcompacts had none of the attributes found in the cool, quirky and even elegant small cars created elsewhere in the world, from the original BMC Mini to the first Peugeot 205 to the modern Citroen C3.

U.S. automakers were forced to churn out small cars to raise corporate average fuel economy averages, so they could keep selling big trucks. Small-car design? An oxymoron.

But consumer preference has shifted -- the result of higher gasoline prices, new fuel-efficiency standards and concern about climate change.

"Small cars and vehicles powered by four-cylinder engines have been on a steady increase since 2004," said Ford Motor Co. sales analyst George Pipas.

U.S. fleets must average 35.5 mpg by 2016, compared with 25.3 mpg this year. Combined with stricter emissions standards, it means the number of small-car nameplates for sale in the United States will increase.

And when a market segment gets crowded, automakers must rely on styling to set their vehicles apart from the crowd.

"It's not business as usual for small cars here anymore," said Moray Callum, Ford Motor's design director for cars.

The expanding lineup of new small cars means styling will get a lot more creative and appealing, just as it did with mid-sized cars recently. (Think of the modern Chevrolet Malibu, the new Ford Taurus and the current Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.)… Read more

Mazda MX-5 goes from drop-top to chop-top

Mazda has announced that it will debut a superlight show car version of its MX-5 as part of an ongoing celebration of the roadster's 20th anniversary. So, how do you make the bantamweight Mazda MX-5 lighter? As it is, the roadster is already so spartan that there's not much to hack off of it.

Mazda's designers started by tossing the retractable roof, shaving the wing mirrors and door handles, and--from the looks of it--gutting the interior. But they didn't stop there. They also lopped off the front windscreen to dramatically lower the vehicle's curb weight … Read more

Mazda's MX-5 Miata, the antitech car

Often, we get cars that are pretty good, but lack good cabin tech. And because our Car Tech reviews are weighted toward, well, tech, the cars' overall scores suffer and everyone berates us for "worrying too much about dumb iPod adapters" when we should be driving.

However, every once in a while, we get a car that is so good at what it does and represents such a purity of vision, that even a low tech score can be overcome for a high overall score. The Mazda MX-5 Miata is one of those cars that makes us forget … Read more

Even smaller Mazda roadster rumored

Model year bloat is an inevitability. Automotive models get bigger with each passing iteration. Even the bantam-weight Mazda MX-5 Miata is not immune and has grown substantially in the 20 years that it's been in production. Auto Express News thinks that Mazda is working on a smaller MX-2 roadster to slot beneath the growing MX-5 roadster.

If the rumors are to be believed, the micro-Miata will be powered by a smaller engine than the MX-5. Expect to see a 1.6-liter gasoline engine with both naturally aspirated and turbocharged variants, the latter making about 160 horsepower. If those numbers … Read more

2010 Mazda3 5-Door is surprisingly good

The 2010 Mazda Mazda3 5-door just kept surprising us every time we got behind the wheel.

Earlier this year at Mazda Laguna Seca Speedway, the Mazda3 surprised us with its rather poor racetrack manners. Perhaps our experiences with the previous-gen Mazdaspeed3 variant had our hopes a bit high, but the 3's suspension and automatic gearbox were just too soft for our tastes. On public roads, however, we were again surprised to find that those same components provided a fantastic ride at less than breakneck speeds.

Once in the cabin, we were taken aback by Mazda's unorthodox navigation system, … Read more

Mazda's O'Sullivan: Focused on new products

When Ford Motor Co. cut its stake in Mazda Motor Corp. to 13 percent from 33.4 percent in November, several key Ford Motor Co. executives on loan to Mazda had to make a decision: stick with Mazda or go back to Ford. One of Mazda's coups was hanging on to Ford lifer Jim O'Sullivan, who had been CEO of Mazda North American Operations since 2003.

O'Sullivan has been a key figure in the revival of Mazda's fortunes in North America, overseeing sales growth and the controlled reduction of the dealer body to emphasize exclusive showrooms.

O'Sullivan, 56, spoke last week with West Coast Editor Mark Rechtin.

What is your assessment of the first four months of 2009, and what will the rest of the year bring the industry?

The way business was 12 months ago won't come back. The industry will come back, but there will be fewer dealers with more throughput. We are seeing more conservative manufacturing planning. I am thinking we'll see a 10 million SAAR [seasonally adjusted annual rate] for the whole year, with things picking up in the second half. As we get into 2010, the Japanese brands will see less incentive spending than we see now. We are going to clean everything up before we get to September.

And for Mazda?

We ended the fiscal year [March 31] cash positive. We're putting incentives on to get port stocks down and get production down. Now we are seeing the pendulum swinging the other way. We've kept our head down. We have gone through a restructuring here, cutting about 120 positions, but we started doing that in the fall. … Read more

Automakers show muscle in New York

With all the emphasis on eco-friendly cars at recent auto shows, we didn't expect to see so many performance cars in New York.

But many automakers had souped-up versions of existing models on display, giving driving enthusiasts something to enjoy. Mercedes-Benz had an AMG version of its E-class and BMW made the X6 into an M. VW launched the new GTI and Nissan NISMO'd its 370Z. Honda even showed up with a Mugen-equipped Fit.

Mazda: Don't believe hot air being emitted by hybrid hype

TOKYO--Mazda's message on hybrid vehicles is clear: don't believe the hype.

Managing Executive Officer Yuji Hara blasted enthusiasm for the gasoline-electric green cars as the fleeting "mood" of a "brand society." He spoke at a media event here last week.

R&D chief Seita Kanai added that Mazda Motor Corp. has no plans to join the hybrid competition of domestic rivals Toyota and Honda. Instead, Mazda will boost fuel efficiency with cheaper measures, such as better engines and lower vehicle weight.

But he acknowledged that Mazda lacks the money to join the expensive … Read more

Mazda starts leasing hydrogen hybrid mini-van

To further its research into new powertrain technology, Mazda began leasing a series hybrid vehicle with a hydrogen-fueled range extending engine to energy companies and local governments. This type of test leasing helps automakers gain useful data on how cars operate in a controlled setting, and ensures that the vehicles' drivers have hydrogen filling stations available.

Although the powertrain configuration is similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt, a series hybrid using an electric motor to power the wheels and a range-extending engine to generate electricity, Mazda puts its own twist on the system, with a hydrogen-burning rotary engine as … Read more

Buick and Jaguar lead the pack

Probably the only race that Buick and Jaguar would finish in a tie is the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Vehicle Dependability StudySM (VDS), but both are on the top of the leader board this week. Each rank highest in vehicle dependability in a tie. Buick improves from a sixth-place ranking in 2008, while Jaguar improves from 10th place. Following in the top-five rankings this year are Lexus, Toyota and Mercury.

Toyota garners five segment awards for the Highlander, Prius, Sequoia, Solara, and Tundra. Lexus follows with four segment awards for the ES 330 (in a tie with the … Read more