Can the all-new Mazda3 find its home in a struggling market such as our own, particularly when it's pitted against the class-leading Ford Focus, asks PADDY COMYN
THE IRISH motor industry is about to enter its most critical period for decades. What happens over the next few weeks will determine whether there will be further job losses in the beleaguered industry. A failure to implement a scrappage scheme, no change to the availability of car finance and a lack of return of consumer confidence could see new car sales fall to levels last seen just after the demise of the horse and trap.
The result is that when car manufacturers release new products they are competing for an increasingly small number of new car buyers. Competition is fierce and bearing in mind that the market at the top end – for executive and luxury cars and SUVs – has virtually disappeared, regular family cars are more important than ever.
Next year will see new car buyers return to traditional values and criteria for choosing their car. The two Rs – reliability and residual value – will become more and more important and this means that mainstream brands will be king.
Mazda has an enviable reputation in Ireland, but hasn’t always performed to its potential. Things have got better in recent years, as it has combined Japanese build and reliability with European flair and shrewd engineering collaborations. Yet the Mazda3 has still been hugely underrated. It was conceived under Ford’s ownership of Mazda and shared the same platform as the class-leading Focus, but had a better interior, was better equipped in many instances, yet never sold in the numbers that the Focus did.
It epitomises the problem for the brand: Mazda has always sat a little awkwardly between being a mainstream contender and an alternative also-ran and the worthiness of its new products and the competitiveness of its offerings will be vital to its future in struggling markets.
With this in mind, Mazda is back with its all-new version of the Mazda3 and yet again is having to go out and spread the message that its cars deserve a chance. But in a market where only the truly foolish would pay the recommended retail price on a new car, how can a brand like Mazda stand out with its latest offering?
At the Irish launch of this latest new model from the Mazda stable a few weeks ago, the firm’s Irish boss stressed the point that this is now one of the few cars in the segment that is still built in Japan and that factor still carries a lot of strength in the minds of many mainstream buyers. You frequently find Mazda performing strongly in reliability surveys – it ranked ninth in the latest JD Power survey – and customers tend to be a very happy bunch.
The first thing that strikes you about the new Mazda3 is that is isn’t instantly easy to categorise. We were driving the saloon version, a variant virtually ignored in some European markets. Here in Ireland, where we seem to still covet the car with “a boot”, it will remain the best-selling version of the car. It is a handsome car. The change from a grille to a more pronounced sloping bonnet adds to the overall sportiness and dare we say “zoom zoom” of the new model. It doesn’t look dissimilar to the RX-8 sports car and you can be fairly sure that isn’t a coincidence.
Aside from the changes to the exterior, which also extend to a new rear end, the Mazda3 has a stiffer body structure, with a more rigid body shell and this adds up to making the car more refined. The interior of the Mazda3 has always been good and it is now that bit better with dark plastics that seem hard wearing and although some of the displays look like they are from a 1980s Casio watch, the dials and centre console unit are very good and there are more soft touch areas than before. There is a high quality feel to the car, and you can tell that the 1.2 million kilometres of durability testing that went into the new car didn’t go to waste.
Where a lot of time and effort has been spent is in working on the engines and while the 1.6-litre petrol engine is likely to be less popular than the old 1.4-litre petrol, most people will focus on the 1.6-litre diesel.
The engine has an audible diesel note to it, but it is reasonably refined and it has more than enough torque on tap. The 108bhp unit is vocal when pushed hard, but when you look at the performance figures, it is certainly an engine that acquits itself very well when it comes to fuel economy and CO2 emissions. The 109g/km of CO2 means that the car resides in motor tax band A, so you pay just €104 per year in road tax and the fuel economy figures that are claimed, of 4.5 l/100km, are entirely believable given the figures we achieved over the course of our week with the car.
Even with driving that would have most hyper-milers hyper-ventilating we easily averaged 5.5 l/100km, and 800-900km between fill-ups should be easy to achieve even for the most lead-footed drivers.
The ride is a little on the firm side, but the car has responsive steering and it settles down well into a long journey. We covered several long distances in our test car and found it to be very accomplished. This is a car that feels more capable than many of its rivals.
We were driving the 1.6-litre diesel saloon, which is an executive model – meaning you get things like smart alloy wheels and air conditioning as standard. All cars get ABS brakes, multiple airbags, brake force distribution, brake assist, stability and traction control and emergency stop signalling.
There is an aux input for your MP3 player in the glovebox and the multifunction steering wheel and trip computer, which helps you keep an eye on your fuel economy, are all welcome additions.
The Mazda3 now performs better in every area than it did before and this puts it up there as a serious contender.
While most buyers in this segment will be drawn to the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Corolla and the soon-to-arrive new Opel Astra, the Mazda3 might not necessarily spring into the minds of the buyer but this should really change.
Coming in as it does, a little bit more expensive than the 1.6-litre TDCi Special Edition Ford Focus is not in its favour either.
However, the Mazda3 has very much leapt from also-ran to strong competitor as a result of the changes to the car. The improved equipment (including DSC stability control) and the Band A diesel engine means it deserves to be on buyers’ shortlists.
Factfile
- Engine:four-cylinder bhp 1,568cc turbo diesel engine putting out 109bhp @ 4,000rpm and 240Nm of torque @ 1,750rpm
- Specification:standard equipment includes alloy wheels, manual air conditioning, ABS brakes, dynamic stability control, traction control system, emergency stop signalling, CD player, auxiliary input for MP3 players, all-round electric windows, electric mirrors, trip computer and multi-function steering wheel with audio controls
- L/100km (mpg):urban – 5.8 (48.7); extra-urban – 3.7 (74.8); combined – 4.5 (62.8)
- CO2 emissions:119g/km
- Tax:VRT – 14 per cent; motor tax – €104
- Price:€22,615
The competition: alternatives
Citroen C4 1.6 HDi 5-door
CC: 1,560
BHP: 92
Speed: 180km/h
0-100km/h: 12.5 secs
L/100km: 4.4
CO2: 117g/km
Motor tax: €104
Price: €21,600
VW Golf 2.0 TDi 110bhp Comfortline
CC: 1,968
BHP: 110
Speed: 194km/h
0-100km/h: 10.7 secs
L/100km: 4.9
CO2: 119g/km
Motor tax: €104
Price: €25,625
Kia cee’d 1.6 CRDi EX
CC: 1,582
BHP: 115
Speed: 188km/h
0-100km/h: 11.5 secs
L/100km: 4.7
CO2: 125g/km
Motor tax: €156
Price: €22,025
Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi Style
CC: 1,560
BHP: 90
Speed: 118km/h
0-100km/h: 12.6 secs
L/100km: 4.7
CO2: 118g/km
Motor tax: €104
Price: €20,711