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Feann Torr20 Aug 2014
NEWS

New Mazda2 from Thailand

Next Mazda compact car to be sourced from Thailand, but quality will be "up to scratch"

Mazda Australia's new Mazda2, which launches here on October 28, will be imported from Thailand rather than Japan, as the outgoing model is.

The brand-new model is being touted as a technological tour-de-force, featuring automatic braking, blind spot and lane keeping alerts, self-adjusting high-beam headlights and a trendy new touch-screen infotainment system.

It also brings a more muscular exterior design and claims to raise the luxury bar in the light-car segment -- something that won't be affected by the switch to Thai sourcing, according to Mazda Australia's Senior Manager of Public Relations, Steve Maciver, who said the new Mazda2 will be "absolutely up to scratch".

"There's no difference in quality with cars coming out of Thailand. BT-50 has been coming out of there for a while," he stated, adding that the build quality of Australia's current Mazda2 didn't change when production shifted to Thailand then back to Japan during its model cycle.

The Mazda PR boss said the reason for the switch to Thai production was in part to help avoid currency fluctuation issues that sometimes affect the price of Japanese-sourced products.

Does this mean the Mazda2 will be cheaper than the current entry-level model ($15,790), given Australia and Thailand have a free-trade agreement?

"We're still working on that," said Maciver. "As with any new car you have got to look at where the market's at and what consumers are willing to pay.

"It's too early to go into pricing right now, but needless to say we've done the sums and we know where the car probably has to sit, but we haven't signed off on price yet," he explained.

The Mazda2 is regularly one of the top three best-selling models in the light car segment, and has in the recent past outsold the Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i20.

In run-out at present, the Mazda2 is priced from $15,790 and will be facing stiff competition from this week's facelifted Volkswagen Polo, which has introductory drive-away base price of $15,990 drive-away.

"We are absolutely determined to deliver a car that will continue to be one of the segment leaders in Australia," said Maciver when quizzed on the increased activity in the light car segment, which will also be joined by a facelifted Yaris next month and an all-new i20 next year.

"Mazda2 is all-new from the ground up -- there's been significant investment into the new car," he said.

Maciver confirmed there would be an expansion of the Mazda2 range, which currently consists of two models.

"When we launched Mazda2 last time we launched with a three-model line-up. Potentially with an all-new car we'll look to do a similar line-up this time."

Two versions of a brand-new 1.5-litre four-cylinder direct-injection petrol engines will be offered when the new 2014 Mazda2 arrives, both matched with either six-speed automatic or manual transmissions and bother offering improved performance and efficiency.

Entry-level models will get a 79kW/139Nm version (VP-5) while top-level variants will get a more advanced 81kW/141Nm version (VF-5) of the SKYACTIV-G engine.

Although there's little difference in performance, the latter engine has a higher compression ratio and smarter exhaust system that Mazda says will reduce fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent -- potentially as low as 5.5L/100km.

The facelifted VW Polo comes with 66kW and 81kW 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engines, both consuming less than 5.0L/100km.

Mazda Australia will announce local pricing, specification and fuel consumption details during the car's launch in late October, but in the meantime stay tuned for our track test of the next 2 with new high-out engine.

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