Mazda E2000 Reviews

Mazda isn’t just pushing upmarket with its ever more refined and luxurious new models, with the Japanese brand committed to retaining traditional buyers at the mainstream end of the market. Speaking with CarsGuide at the international launch of the new CX-30 small SUV last week, Mazda global development and product planning boss Hiroyuki Matsumoto spoke of the “volume zone” the brand is targeting.He explained via a hand-sketched graph that there is a significant chunk of the new car market further up the price scale that sits adjacent to Mazda’s typical buyer demographic territory, which the brand is now targeting. “Instead of moving upwards, we’d like to retain existing but expand our customer base,” he said. It all started with the surprisingly comfortable second-generation CX-9 three years ago, before the top-spec Mazda6 scored some of its fairy dust with one of its many updates in 2016.Fast forward to 2019 and the new-generation Mazda3 has taken big strides in terms of refinement and comfort, which has carried over to the new CX-30 that is set to appear in Australia in early 2020.Tellingly, the brand’s long-term Zoom Zoom driver-focused marketing catchcry wasn’t mentioned once at the CX-30 event or in any press materials.The Mazda3 team has previously confirmed that non-traditional benchmarks like the current Peugeot 308 had been used as a benchmark during its development, but Matsumoto-san shook his head when asked whether any particular premium products had also been included. “Our target is not to win over BMW and Audi as such. We do not aim to copy the German brands,” he said. “The German brands seem to be targeting mechanical advancement, we like to address for the customer what makes them happy - human centric.”“I like the customer to choose Mazda cars, not because it looks like BMW, but because it is a Mazda unique technology we offer.”Asked about whether there’s a degree of pride in achieving something like Skyactiv-X for production, where much bigger and well resourced companies like Mercedes-Benz couldn’t, Matsumoto-san explained: “I think this the essence of drive our engineers depended on.”“Our ultimate goal has not been to do something different, we’re just purely trying to find the right way to solve a problem or meet the target.”This aligns with the philosophy behind the brand’s new Skyactiv-X petrol drivetrain technology, which on the surface might appear a touch incremental in the face of the electric-focused race favoured by all other global brands.  “Our reason why we pursue the ideal combustion, instead of pursuing the use batteries or further electrification, we did that because that was the right thing to do,” he added.As the discussion for adequate infrastructure to enable mainstream electric vehicle use continues with no total solution in the foreseeable future, it’s hard to argue with Matsumoto-san. Mazda is indeed planning electrified and fuel cell drivetrains, but aims to bring such technology to market when it is more commercially realistic for the mainstream.

Mazda already makes the five-seat CX-3 and CX-5 SUVs, but the CX-30 could actually be the best fit yet.

Mazda predicts we'll be depending on combustion engines for a long time yet, so has somehow made the impossible happen with Skyactiv-X.

Mazda's new CX-7 will share components, suppliers and its American factory with an upcoming Toyota SUV, believed to be the FT-4X concept revealed in New York, according to media reports from the USA.Toyota and Mazda have both confirmed they'll be joi

How big is too big for two babies? Does such a thing exist?

The design of latest Mazda3 hatch has polarised opinion, but a new sedan version has arrived to calm the debate, with more traditional lines and a huge boot.

In a somewhat unusual recall, Mazda has to bring in thousands of fourth-generation Mazda 3s due to a production error which could see the wheels fall off.

The Mazda 3 has been the hottest-looking hatch ever since it was born, but early versions weren't quite as good as they looked. The arrival of the fourth-generation 3, however, sets out to change that, with even more style than before, reduced NVH and improved ride and handling. Is it as good as the hype suggests?

A turbocharged Mazda 3 hot hatch is coming, but before you rush off to your nearest dealership, there is a sizeable catch you should be probably be made aware of.Reports surfaced this week claiming Mazda will be the latest manufacturer to enter the

Rumours have swirled for years, but it appears Mazda is finally reviving the rotary engine with new patents emerging in Japan.It seems the long-held fantasies of old-school Mazda performance fans could soon become reality, with the brand currently investigating ways to make the notoriously inefficient rotary engine less expensive to run.While Mazda has spoken before about reviving the rotary as a range extender for its upcoming EV products, this doesn't appear to be the case here.The patents show a new side-port exhaust arrangement (like the 4-2-1 exhaust system in the company’s SkyActiv petrol engines) which will reportedly improve intake efficiency, and a new turbocharger design is bespoke to the powertrain - something that suggests this rotary design could be used as a standalone engine, and not as part of an EV setup. Other details such as displacement, power, torque and efficiency were not mentioned in the patents. The last rotary engine Mazda used was in the RX-8, which was eventually removed from sale in 2010 after failing to meet emissions standards.“A rotary sports car is our dream," Ichiro Hirose, Mazda’s powertrain boss, told CarsGuide in November 2018. “We understand the problems of the rotary engine. But understanding the problems means we can come up with the solutions. So we continue to research and develop the technology.”Asked outright whether a rotary performance vehicle would feature in the Mazda line-up, Mr Hirose said: “Technology wise, it’s more than 50 per cent. But the business case is the biggest issue. I don’t think it is impossible to make this kind of sports car.”