[SVTKAR3]

Posted May 25th 2008 10:33AM by Frank Filipponio
Filed under: Japan, Hatchbacks, Mazda

Click above for high-res gallery of the Mazda2 in the wild

Although we've seen the Mazda2 before in 3- and 5-door configurations overseas, the presence of it at a local car meet in Southern California had us once again speculating about its sales potential in the States. The fact that the meet was held at Mazda's SoCal HQ means that the car could simply be undergoing evaluation, but judging by the reaction of the crowd, we think this has better sales potential than the 2009 Focus that was parked at the other end of the lot. While the exterior looked pretty spiffy, the interior looked cavernous. Smart design, and a worthy competitor for the Yaris, Versa and Fit. While we've heard that Ford's version of this car, the Fiesta, will make it to our shores eventually, we still don't know for sure about this lovely little Mazda. Mazda keeps waffling. We'll keep our fingers crossed, especially knowing there's that Mazdaspeed2 in the mix, at least overseas. But that's where all of the magic seems to start nowadays so there is hope.

Gallery: Mazda2 5-Door

Tags: Mazda2

 

[ARCANGEL]

it's definately coming here it's a no brainer for Ford to do that

 

[johnstarnes]

Yes I saw this over at AutoBlog...very nice looking economy car!

 

[K-1]

That front-end is awful...

 

[johnstarnes]

I hope that more and more of the design themes in the Nagare series of concepts ends up more apparent in future models vs. the teensy hints of it in this nice looking little economy car.

 

[Ming]

Looks worlds better than the Yar's-Revenge-is, or Fit. I'll have to wait to see a 2009 Aveo in person, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[PocoToro]

Why do "economy cars" always have the same look and are so boring :blink: :lame:

 

[Skank Boy]

Meh...

 

[powervette]

Looks worlds better than the Yar's-Revenge-is, or Fit. I'll have to wait to see a 2009 Aveo in person, but I'm not optimistic.

it doesn't look better than Yaris because it's too similar. It's hard to be optimistic about Aveo but it's controversial face gives it at least some originality.

 

[member12]

I think this is my new favorite subcompact.


Sorry, the Aveo is just too old school. The Mazda2 is ground up new in the euro markets....the Aveo would need a complete redesign to compete.

Maybe the next Aveo will look like the Beat.

They've put that concept out a while back but they don't seem to be making any progress in designing it for consumer's use..

 

[Greg Burr]

The Ford Fiesta version of this car is much better looking.

 

[Mr. Burns]

I love this little car! Hopefully we'll get it, IMO it looks miles better than the Aveo. A new Fiesta would also be sweet.

 

[EllwynX]

Looks considerably better than the Fit. About on par with the Yaris (very similar). But I still find the new Aveo's front end more attractive than them all.

 

[skylark68]

Not too bad, but i'll take the Lotus sitting next to it...

 

[FenwickHockey65]

It's interesting.
By the way, that European Aveo posted above doesn't look too bad...

 

[kenman923]

Yes Mazda, you should bring this car to the U.S.

 

[JeffInDFW]

To me, the best "entry level car" is a 3 year old used car. I'm sorry, I'm not paying $13,000 for an awful POS new car. Give me a $7,000 3 year old Malibu Maxx and I can use the $6,000 I saved to pay for the extra gas I'll use.

 

[DemonKnightDK]

I'm with JeffInDFW, i'd rather buy a nice used car, than a base model bottom barrell car. A nice 2004 LeSabre or Bonniville goes for around 7 grand, or a cavi or even a neon can be had for 4-5K. if you look around some times less.. granted you wont get the new car warrenty, but you want have as much tax, or take as big a hit in the purchase price either.

 

[BrickTamland]

That is sweet looking.

 

[ChevroletRevived]

Definitely a good looking subcompact. It would do really good here in the U.S, it's way better then the Yaris.