Mazda's popular mini is about to get a mate. Derek Ogden reports the Mazda2 three-door is shaping up to take on rivals. Photo Gallery

It is hard to wipe the smile from Mazda folk's faces these days.

The company has sold 28,439 new cars so far in 2008 - 10 per cent ahead of the same period last year and more than the 27,505 new vehicles it sold in an entire year in 2000. Added to that is the recent Targa Tasmania 2WD Showroom category win by Scot Alister McRae, in a Mazda3 MPS turbocharged hatchback.

That success is about to broaden with the arrival of the entry-level Mazda2 three-door hatch.

Designed side by side with its five-door sibling, voted the 2008 world car of the year, the three-door Mazda2 goes on the market this month in two versions - Neo and Maxx.

The entry-level Neo, powered by a 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine mated with a five-speed manual transmission, at $15,750, is set to take it up to its nearest rival the Toyota Yaris YRS ($16,990).

The Maxx - adding 15in alloy wheels, six-stack CD and sports spoiler - sells for $17,960 in standard manual form, a four-speed automatic transmission adding $1650 to both variants, while a Safety Pack, for $1100 extra, adds dynamic stability control, traction control, plus side and curtain airbags for a total of six airbags.

Standard features on both models are air-conditioing, power windows and mirrors, MP3-compatible CD player and remote central locking.

While having two doors fewer than its sibling, the new Mazda2 gives away nothing in dimensions inside and out. Advanced engineering that won the five-door a five-star EuroNCAP safety rating is also shared.

The Mazda2's body is lightest 1.5 litre B-car in Australia and strong, it being the second Mazda after the Mazda MX-5 to use ultra-high-tensile steel. The proportion of high-tensile steel has jumped from just 6 per cent in the first-generation Mazda2 to 31 per cent.

Like the five-door, the Mazda2 three-door's body benefits from carefully targeted, localised stiffening which ensures maximum rigidity with minimal weight penalty.

Benefits include benchmark handling, impressive noise, vibration and harshness, and a strong passenger safety cell.

Mazda2 is 4 per cent more aerodynamic than the original version with a drag co-efficient of 0.33Cd and co-efficient of lift of 0.03.

Further safety features include ABS anti-skid brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and emergency brake assist. The 1.5 litre four-cylinder petrol engine produces 76kW of power at 6000rpm and 137Nm of torque at 4000rpm, while using only 6.4 litres of fuel per 100km (44 miles per gallon) in manual form on the combined city/highway cycle.

Low carbon dioxide emissions are an added bonus.

The new Mazda2 three-door, like the rest of the Mazda passenger and sport utility vehicle range, comes with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

There is great feeling of 'family' about the car, with designer Ikuo Maeda also penning the RX-8 sports car and his father the RX-7 before that. First released at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Australia is one of the first markets to get the Mazda2 three-door, the first compact three-door for the Hiroshima-based company since the 121 in 1980.

Mazda MD Doug Dickson said the Mazda2 three-door would attract buyers looking for the same great qualities of value, safety and elegance that have driven its five-door sibling to exceed sales expectations by more than 50 per cent.

“With two fewer doors, the Mazda2 three-door will also draw in consumers attracted to its sportier lines and who don't need regular access to the back seats,” he said.

Dickson would not be drawn into telling us what the top importer had lined up for Australia in the future. Suffice to say there's plenty of zoom-zoom on the way.

`With two fewer doors, the Mazda2 three-door will also draw in consumers attracted to its sportier lines and who don't need regular access to the back seats' Caption: